The UK is set to benefit from fishing opportunities worth nearly £5 million after reaching an agreement with Norway to secure access to key fishing stocks.
The deal secures quota of North Sea whitefish stocks worth nearly £3 million and Arctic stocks worth nearly £2 million for 2023, and also ensures UK vessels have access to Norwegian waters to fish their own demersal and pelagic quota.
“I’m delighted to reach a deal with Norway for 2023 which gives UK fishing vessels access to key fish stocks and quota in the North Sea and Arctic, and look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with Norway and other coastal states to manage fishing sustainably,” commented Fisheries Minister Mark Spencer.
The UK and Norway negotiate annually on access to each other’s waters, quota exchanges and control and enforcement measures.
This deal extends arrangements agreed last year and specifically –
- gives the UK access to 30,000 tonnes of whitefish stocks in the North Sea
- grants the UK and Norway access to fish up to 20,000 tonnes each of herring in their respective waters
- secures over 1,100 tonnes of quota transfers from Norway of key UK stock
- provides 750 tonnes of cod quota for the UK to fish in Norway’s Arctic waters
The deal sits alongside a separate arrangement under which the UK is expecting more than 5,200 tonnes of additional Arctic opportunities to be transferred to the UK in 2023, providing more than 6,000 tonnes in total.
Separate to this latest deal, trilateral negotiations between the UK, Norway and the EU are still on-going.
