{"id":636073,"date":"2025-12-16T13:22:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T13:22:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/636073\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T13:22:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T13:22:21","slug":"pelagic-industry-calls-on-eu-to-join-coastal-state-agreement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/636073\/","title":{"rendered":"Pelagic industry calls on EU to join coastal state agreement"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE BALL is in the court of the EU and Greenland to join a four-party agreement on sustainably managing the fishery of North Atlantic mackerel.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the call from the Scottish pelagic fishing industry after a comprehensive sharing deal on mackerel was reached.<\/p>\n

Under the new four-party agreement between the UK, Norway, the Faroe Islands and Iceland, fishing pressure will be reduced by a further nine per cent to 299,010 tonnes in a three-year deal.<\/p>\n

The UK has a 30.5 per cent share in this total allowable aatch (TAC) with 78 per cent of that (just over 71,000 tonnes) going to the Scottish industry. Shetland accounts for a third of the Scottish pelagic fleet.<\/p>\n

Previously there had been a three-party deal between the UK, Norway and the Faroe Islands in place with those coastal states outside the agreement setting their own higher TACs.<\/p>\n

Chair of the Scottish Pelagic Fishermen\u2019s Association (SPFA), Whalsay fisherman Richard Williamson said: \u201cThe inclusion of Iceland within the existing three-party sharing agreement between the UK, Norway and the Faroe Islands clearly brings us closer to a fully comprehensive deal, and we urge both of the remaining coastal States in this fishery \u2013 the EU and Greenland \u2013 to come aboard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shetland Fishermen\u2019s Association executive officer Simon Collins. Photo: Shetland News<\/p>\n

The second skipper of the local pelagic trawler Research LK62 added: \u201cAfter almost four years of talks, it is high time that all parties came together to ensure the long-term viability of the mackerel stock.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe EU in particular needs to take its responsibilities as seriously as other parties have.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0S<\/p>\n

peaking on behalf of Shetland Fishermen\u2019s Association, Simon Collins said the UK had given up a significant part of its zonal attachment share of the mackerel fishery to drive progress on quota sharing.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe all want a six-party deal that includes the EU and Greenland, but not at further cost to ourselves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are already paying a heavy price, not just in terms of share but also in terms of the sheer concentration of effort in Scottish waters.\u201d<\/p>\n

And SPFA chief executive, Ian Gatt added: \u201cWithout this four-party arrangement, it would have been nigh impossible to agree a TAC in line with the maximum sustainable yield catch scenario option as outlined by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) of 299,010 tonnes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe encourage the market to get behind this deal and focus their efforts on the other two parties sitting outside this agreement to make a serious effort to come on board.\u201d<\/p>\n

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