Scotland’s pelagic fishermen have given a pointed response to news of an extended sharing agreement for the Northeast Atlantic mackerel stock coupled with a total allowable catch (TAC) of 299,010 tonnes in 2026.
Under the new four-party agreement between the UK, Norway, the Faroe Islands and Iceland, fishing pressure will be reduced by a further nine per cent on top of what had previously been achieved in a three-party sharing agreement between the UK, Norway and the Faroe Islands.
“The inclusion of Iceland within the existing three-party sharing agreement between the UK, Norway and the Faroe Islands clearly brings us closer to a fully comprehensive deal, and we urge both of the remaining coastal States in this fishery – the EU and Greenland – to come aboard,” said Richard Williamson, the Shetland-based second skipper of the LK62 Research and chair of the Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association (SPFA).
He added: “After almost four years of talks, it is high time that all parties came together to ensure the long-term viability of the mackerel stock. The EU in particular needs to take its responsibilities as seriously as other parties have.”
Ian Gatt, SPFA chief executive, said: “UK and Scottish negotiators have played a crucial role in reducing fishing pressure on mackerel over the past three years, painful though that has been. This agreement further reduces fishing pressure by 9% of the global TAC. It is hard to imagine how that leadership could have been exercised from within the EU, which has so far confined its role to empty rhetoric.
“Without this four-party arrangement, it would have been nigh impossible to agree a TAC in line with the Maximum Sustainable Yield catch scenario option as outlined by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea of 299,010 tonnes. We encourage the market to get behind this deal and focus their efforts on the other two parties sitting outside this agreement to make a serious effort to come on board.”
Speaking for the Shetland Fishermen’s Association, which accounts for a third of Scotland’s pelagic fleet, Simon Collins commented that the UK had given up a significant part of its zonal attachment share of the mackerel fishery to drive progress on quota sharing.
He added: “We all want a six-party deal that includes the EU and Greenland, but not at further cost to ourselves. We are already paying a heavy price, not just in terms of share but also in terms of the sheer concentration of effort in Scottish waters.”
