The E.U. has reached an agreement on 2025 fishing opportunities in the Atlantic Ocean, as well as in the North, Mediterranean, and Black seas.
The deal, reached on 11 December following two days of negotiations, sets out total allowable catch (TAC) parameters and fishing effort limits for many of Europe’s most important commercial fish stocks.
The stocks covered in the agreement are ones the E.U. manages either on its own, jointly manages with neighboring non-E.U. countries, or manages through agreements made via regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs).
“For the commission and me personally, it was important to reach an agreement that is both balanced and responsible – preserving fishers’ livelihoods in the long term and improving the chances for stock recovery,” E.U. Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans Costas Kadis said.
Hungary Minister for Agriculture István Nagy agreed that the agreement the bloc reached is balanced but aspects of the negotiating process were particularly challenging.
“[The deal] will allow us to maintain fish stocks at sustainable levels and protect the marine environment while also considering the viability of the sector. Setting the fishing effort limits in the Western Mediterranean was particularly demanding, but we managed to find a constructive compromise,” Nagy said.
Through deliberation, ministers agreed to reduce trawler fishing effort by 66 percent in Spanish and French waters in the Western Mediterranean, and by 38 percent in French and Italian waters, to protect demersal stocks while simultaneously considering the socioeconomic impact the reductions would have on fleets.
The European Council said the trawling reduction is in line with the objectives of the E.U.’s Western Mediterranean Multi-Annual Plan (MAP), which will enter its permanent enforcement phase on 1 January 2025.
Compared to 2024, the E.U. also agreed to reduce maximum catch limits for blue and red shrimp in Spanish and French Mediterranean waters by 10 percent and by 6 percent in Italian and French waters. For giant red shrimp, it agreed to reduce the catch limits by 6 percent year over year in Italian and French waters.
Other stocks across the E.U. that will see drops in catch limits in 2025 include horse mackerel in the Atlantic Ocean and North Sea, which will see a 66 percent drop to 59,266 MT from the 173,873 MT allowed last year.
The large drop is in response to concerns over the stock’s health. The International Council on Exploration of the Sea has recommended that mackerel quotas be slashed 22 percent in 2025.
However, there is no set agreement among the nations fishing for pelagic species, such as mackerel, in the Northeast Atlantic. European representatives have previously stated that other nations fishing for mackerel in the same waters, such as the U.K. and Norway, have greatly contributed to overfishing of the stock.
Elsewhere, langoustine in the Bay of Biscay will see a 39 percent drop in 2025 TAC to 3,502 MT, red sea bream in Iberian waters will see a 62 percent decrease to 43 MT for both 2025 and 2026, and common sole TAC in the Norwegian Sea will decrease by 36 percent to 209 MT in 2025.
Following positive scientific advice and improved stock status, though, ministers agreed to raise the catch limits for other stocks.
This includes megrim and anglerfish in Atlantic Iberian waters, which will see TAC increases of 23 percent to 4,448 MT and 17 percent to 5,432 MT, respectively; common sole in the Bay of Biscay, which will see a 1 percent rise to 2,510 MT; and langoustine in the southern Bay of Biscay and Cantabrian Sea, which will see a 134 percent increase to 29 MT.
In the Black Sea, the European Council also agreed to increase turbot TAC by nearly 4 percent.
Hake in Atlantic Iberian waters and plaice in the Kattegat Strait, meanwhile, will both maintain the same 17,445 MT catch limit as 2024.
The agreement follows a deal the E.U. struck in October regarding Baltic Sea fishing opportunities in 2025, which drew the concern of several NGOs that said the deal does not align with scientific advice.
It also follows other deals the E.U. struck for 2025, including a bilateral deal with the U.K., a bilateral deal with Norway, and a trilateral deal with the U.K. and Norway.
According to the European Commission, the bilateral U.K. deal secured fishing opportunities for the E.U. fleet totaling about 428,000 MT and worth almost EUR 1.4 billion (USD 1.5 billion), based on historic wholesale prices.
Through the bilateral Norway deal, among other stocks, the E.U. will receive 10,316 MT of Arctic cod for 2025 and will transfer 81,750 MT of blue whiting and 1,700 MT of Northern shrimp to Norway.
The trilateral arrangement establishes TACs of over 958,000 MT, covering E.U. quotas of almost 463,000 MT of cod, haddock, saithe, whiting, plaice, and herring. It includes a 20 percent reduction for cod, consistent with International Council of the Sea’s (ICES) advice.
Delegations also set haddock TAC at 112,435 MT under the agreement, representing a decrease of 5.5 percent compared with 2024. Meanwhile, the 2025 saithe TAC shot up 7.1 percent to 79,071 MT, and whiting was raised 46 percent to 139,425 MT.
