Meeting in London, the delegations of the EU, the Faroe Islands, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Norway and Russia reached agreement on the management measures for mackerel, blue whiting and Atlanto-Scandian herring for 2020 in the waters of the North-East Atlantic. All three stocks have a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) set at the recommended scientific advice, the European Commission noted on Monday 28 October.
Regarding mackerel, the three coastal states parties to the sharing arrangement (EU, Norway and the Faroe Islands) have agreed to set the TAC for 2020 at 922,064 tonnes, a level that corresponds to management in line with the principle of Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY). The TAC set for 2020 represents a 41% increase over the 2019 TAC (see EUROPE 12151/13). The three parties have reiterated their strong concerns about the increase of unilateral quotas set particularly by Iceland, but also Greenland and the Russian Federation in 2019 and its impact on the stock (see EUROPE 12320/10). However, the parties reaffirmed their readiness to continue the negotiation of a comprehensive sharing agreement with all coastal and fishing states, in the future.
Blue whiting. Norway, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and the EU have set next year's TAC at 1,161,615 tonnes. The level is in line with MSY and long-term management strategy approaches, and corresponds to an increase of approximately 2% compared to the TAC set for 2019.
Finally, with regard to the TAC for Atlanto-Scandian herring (Norwegian spring spawning herring), Norway, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Russia and the EU have decided to set catch limits for 2020 at 525,594 tonnes, an 11% decrease compared to the TAC set for the current year. This TAC is in line with the long-term management strategy adopted last year. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)