The UK has secured fishing catch limits worth £202 million (US$249 million) to the UK fishing industry, a £33 million (US$40 million) increase from last year, after reaching an agreement with Norway and the EU, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said late last week.
Negotiating as an independent coastal State, the UK agreed catch levels for 2023 for six important fish stocks in the North Sea including North Sea cod, haddock, and herring.
This comes as the UK also concluded negotiations on catch limits with coastal states in the North East Atlantic on three more key stocks to the UK fishing fleet – blue whiting, mackerel and atlanto-Scandian herring. In total, UK quota in these stocks will be worth around £256 million (US$316 million) to the UK fishing industry next year.
The catch levels agreed for North Sea stocks for 2023 (compared to 2022) are:
Last month, the UK reached an agreement with Norway, with the UK fleet benefiting from fishing opportunities worth £5 million (US$6.19 million). Further talks with the EU are continuing over the total allowable catches and other stock management measures.
Throughout the negotiations, the UK government worked closely with the devolved administrations to ensure that fishing communities across the UK will benefit from the agreement.
An assessment on the number of individual total allowable catches set consistent with ICES advice will be published on the conclusion of the UK's annual fisheries negotiations.
