An agreement on the management and reciprocal access to mackerel in each other’s waters has been reached by Norway, the Faroe Islands and the UK.
The arrangements aim to reduce fishing pressure on the Northeast Atlantic mackerel stock significantly and act as a stepping-stone towards a long-term quota-sharing arrangement involving all coastal states to the stock. They will mean access for Norway and Faroes to fish some of their quota in the UK zone in return for an annual transfer of some of their quota to the UK.
“The UK and the Faroe Islands are important partners for us. I am therefore very satisfied that we have agreed on a multi-year agreement on the management and distribution of mackerel, where together we contribute to reducing the total fishing pressure on the stock,” said Norway’s Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Marianne Sivertsen Næss.
The tripartite agreement covers national quotas, access and scientific co-operation, and applies, until further notice, for three years. Under the agreement, the Faroe Islands get 98,708 tonnes of mackerel, equivalent to 13.35% of the internationally agreed 739,386-tonne TAC. The agreement gives Norway a 31% share (229,210 tonnes), while the UK gets 27.48% (203,211 tonnes).
Under this arrangement, these three nations have allocated almost 72% of the mackerel TAC for the Northeast Atlantic, leaving the remaining roughly quarter of the TAC to the European Union, Iceland and Greenland. According to the Norwegian authorities, the agreement is designed so that it is possible to include the remaining coastal states if they so wish.
“I hope that this agreement can inspire the other parties to join a comprehensive coastal state agreement at a later date,” Marianne Sivertsen Næss said.
The future of pelagic fisheries in the Northeast Atlantic has been recently under concern with total catches exceeding ICES scientific recommendations and MSC certifications for mackerel, Atlanto-Scandian herring and blue whiting being suspended. Fish feed manufacturers have been calling the governments to action and reach an agreement.
