The UK has now concluded annual fisheries negotiations with the
EU, providing certainty for the fishing industry on catch limits
for the remainder of 2021.
The catch limits known as Total Allowable Catches have been set
for 70 fish stocks and supersede the previous provisional
catch limits for 2021.
The agreement provides stability for UK fleets with all Total
Allowable Catches remaining in line with the provisional catch
limits set earlier this year, apart from 8 that have small
increases.
The annual negotiations for 2021, in which the UK participated as
an independent coastal State outside of the Common Fisheries
Policy, follow the signing of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement
between the UK and EU.
The agreement announced today means:
- The total value of the UK-EU fishing opportunities for the UK
in 2021 is approximately £333 million. This equates to around
160,000 tonnes.
- As a result of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and these
negotiations, the UK fleet will have around 26,000 tonnes more
quota for these stocks compared to quotas allocated in 2020. This
increase is estimated to be worth around £27 million.
- Both parties have also committed to exchanging fishing quota
on an interim basis ahead of a longer-term exchange system which
will be set up by the Specialised Committee on Fisheries.
The Specialised Committee on Fisheries established under the
Trade and Cooperation agreement will provide a forum for
discussions on fisheries matters between the EU and UK and will
meet for the first time in June.
The Environment Secretary, said:
“As we move forward as an independent coastal State, we have been
steadfast in representing the interests of our industry and
seeking to manage our fisheries more sustainably.
“This agreement provides certainty to our fishing industry and we
now have a stable platform in place for managing our fisheries
this year and in future years.”
As a responsible coastal State, the UK is committed to increasing
the sustainable management of fish stocks in UK waters.
The agreement with the EU also provides a framework, via the
Specialised Committee on Fisheries, for continued cooperation on
fisheries management to support conservation and sustainable
fishing. The agreement also adjusted measures for the management
of seabass to reduce the level of wasteful discards without
affecting sustainability.
The Written Record for these negotiations will be published
following the EU’s internal ratification processes.
Notes to Editors:
- The UK will have roughly £27m more quota in these 70 stocks
than that which was allocated in 2020. This figure takes into
account the UK's new, larger, shares of quota under the Trade and
Cooperation Agreement as well as Total Allowable Catch reductions
which were made for sustainability reasons.
- As an independent coastal State with a commitment to
achieving sustainable fisheries the UK is taking a more rigorous
approach to assessing Maximum Sustainable Yield in relation to
negotiated outcomes.
- As a result of an independent review of the assessment method
these figures are not comparable to previous years, a more
detailed report will be published shortly outlining the
assessment method and a comparison of this year’s negotiated
outcomes to previous years.
- This ‘Maximum Sustainable Yield review’, initiated by Defra,
demonstrates ministerial commitments to strengthening sustainable
fisheries management for the benefit of our marine environment.
- Trilateral annual fisheries negotiations between the UK, EU
and Norway concluded on 16
March
