North-East Atlantic coastal states reach agreement on mackerel, blue whiting and Atlanto-Scandian herring TACs for 2024

The delegations of the European Union, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Norway and the United Kingdom reached an agreement on the management measures for mackerel, blue whiting and Atlanto-Scandian herring in the North-East Atlantic for 2024. All three stocks have a total allowable catch (TAC) for 2024 set at the recommended scientific advice provided by the International Council for Exploration of the Sea (ICES).

For mackerel, the coastal states agreed to set the TAC for 2024 at 739,386 tonnes. This TAC is in line with ICES advice, following the maximum sustainable yield approach and is 5% lower than the TAC agreed for 2023.

In addition, the delegations also recalled their work on developing a new long-term management strategy (LTMS) for the mackerel stock and recognised the importance of concluding a sharing arrangement. They agreed to wait for the outcome of the upcoming ICES benchmark exercise on the stock, before deciding on the LTMS. Parties also discussed the need for exercising restraint in transferring the unutilised quantities of their quota between years.

For blue whiting, the EU, Norway, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and the UK agreed to set the TAC for 2024 at 1,529,754 tonnes. This TAC is in line with the ICES advice, following the LTMS approach. It corresponds to an increase of 12.5% compared to the TAC set for 2023.

For the Atlanto-Scandian herring, the TAC for 2024 was agreed at 390,010 tonnes, a decrease of 24% compared to the TAC set for 2023. The agreed TAC level is also in line with the ICES advice, following the LTMS approach. During this year’s annual consultations, the European Union also made a claim to being acknowledged as a costal state of this stock, based on scientific evidence of occurrence of this stock in EU waters.

The delegations also agreed to address the issue of quota-sharing arrangements for all three stock as soon as possible, and no later than in early 2024.

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