The EU and Norway have signed three fisheries agreements for 2019 in what they call "most important fisheries agreement in northern Europe", the European Commission proclaimed on 21 December 2018.
However, fishing opportunities for 2019 are generally declining: -33% for cod quotas, -36% for herring, -31% for haddock and -22% for whiting.
Two bilateral agreements and one neighbouring agreement were signed after negotiations at the end of 2018. The bilateral agreements cover the North Sea and the Atlantic as well as Skagerrak and Kattegat, while the Neighbouring Agreement covers Swedish fisheries in Norwegian waters of the North Sea.
The EU and Norway have decided on quota levels for jointly managed fish stocks in the North Sea (cod, haddock, plaice, whiting, herring and saithe) and in the Skagerrak (cod, haddock, whiting, plaice, shrimp, herring and sprat). In the North Sea, for two of the stocks, saithe (+16%) and plaice (+11%), total allowable catches (TACs) are increasing compared to 2018.
For the other four stocks under shared management (haddock, whiting, cod, herring), a reduction was necessary to protect the resource, explains the Commission.
The EU and Norway have also agreed on quota trading. In particular, the EU obtained 21,518 tonnes of Arctic cod. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)