Fishing - pelagic quota cuts 2026 - consultation outcome: Scottish Government response

Introduction/Summary of Next Steps

Following the publication of ICES advice at the end of September, which advised a severe reduction in the Northeast Atlantic (NEA) mackerel Total Allowable Catch (TAC) from 2025 levels (of 70%), Scotland’s pelagic processing sector called on the Scottish Government to take action to mitigate against inevitable reductions in landings into Scotland. They set out concerns about the implications of significant quota reductions for raw material availability, operational viability, and the wider economic stability of Scotland’s pelagic sector. While reductions across pelagic species were a concern (blue whiting quota has also been cut), stakeholders were clear that the principal issue was the scale of the proposed cut to mackerel.

Mackerel is Scotland’s most important species by value and is central to the viability of the pelagic industry. It underpins employment in coastal communities and delivers substantial economic benefits to key port authorities such as Peterhead and Lerwick, which depend heavily on pelagic landings for throughput and associated revenue. The species supports major export activity, reaching markets across Europe and Asia. It is also an important contributor to the UK domestic market, providing food security and supply resilience where Scottish processors supply UK retailers and food service businesses, ensuring that UK consumers have access to high-quality pelagic products.

Beyond processing, mackerel landings also drive economic activity in related sectors including haulage, fuel provision and other onshore services. This interconnected value chain means that reductions in mackerel quota have far-reaching indirect consequences, not only for catchers and processors but for the wider coastal economy, supporting industries, and the UK’s ability to maintain a secure and stable domestic mackerel supply.

Herring also plays an important role in the pelagic sector, though its economic contribution is significantly smaller than mackerel. A reduction of 22% in the global herring TAC will add further pressure to the same processing infrastructure and workforce. While the financial and operational impact of herring cuts is less severe, the combined effect of reductions across both species compounds the challenge for businesses that depend on year-round pelagic throughput.

Having considered data including: industry feedback, landings data, and other information sources, the Scottish Government has concluded that introducing species-specific landing requirements for mackerel and herring at 70% from 2026 is the most effective and proportionate measure to safeguard Scotland’s processing capacity, ports, and coastal communities during an unprecedented quota constraint for the stock.

This decision reflects the exceptional circumstances created by the reduction in the Northeast Atlantic (NEA) mackerel TAC and the need to help reduce the potential impact on Scotland’s pelagic processing sector and those ports and coastal communities most impacted.

From 1 January 2026, the economic link licence condition will be amended to introduce species-specific landing requirements for mackerel and herring, replacing the current combined target. Vessels will be required to land at least 70% of their total annual landings of mackerel into Scotland and 70% of their total annual landings of herring into Scotland. This measure is designed to ensure that the most economically critical species - mackerel - continues to underpin domestic processing capacity and port revenues during a period of significant quota constraint, while helping to maintain throughput for herring. No other changes to economic link conditions will be made.

A key factor as to why the requirement is to be changed to a species specific requirement for mackerel and herring is that under the existing combined 55% target, many vessels seek to land as much herring as possible into Scotland, which allows them to maximise mackerel landings abroad where prices are higher. To use a hypothetical example, if a vessel has an allocation of 10,000 tonnes of mackerel and herring combined, which equates as 6,650 tonnes mackerel and 3,350 tonnes of herring. If all 100% of herring were landed into Scotland (3,350) the vessel would only need to land 2,150 tonnes of mackerel into Scotland to meet the 55% threshold. This is effectively only 35% of the vessel's mackerel being landed into Scotland.

With mackerel facing a much steeper TAC cut than herring, this behaviour is likely to reduce mackerel landings into Scotland in 2026. A species-specific requirement addresses this risk directly.

This document should be read in conjunction with the other impact assessments prepared as part of this exercise, which together set out the full rationale for the decision.