European Union, Norway and the United Kingdom - fisheries consultations: agreed records 2026

17  Herring

17.1 The Delegations recalled that a joint Working Group had delivered in 2022 an extensive report on herring fisheries in the North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat, and eastern English Channel. The report presented a comprehensive overview of the development of herring distribution, fisheries, management approaches, and challenges. 

17.2 The Delegations recalled their agreement that NSAS herring be managed under a single total allowable catch (TAC) limit, replacing the current multi-TAC management model. They recalled that Delegations have met multiple times since April 2023 to develop a new management regime aimed at simplifying the framework and addressing sustainability challenges for herring fisheries in ICES Subarea 4 and Divisions 3.a and 7.d. 

17.3 Having regard to the above, the conclusions of the 2022 Working Group report and the objectives of the long-term management strategy, the Delegations agreed to manage NSAS herring in accordance with the arrangements set out below.

17.4 In addition to this revised management regime the Delegations noted that the Parties may, where appropriate, consider bilateral and unilateral arrangements to support the sustainable exploitation and management of herring in ICES Subarea 4 and Divisions 3.a and 7.d. Such arrangements may include access to waters, catch restrictions, technical measures, and other management measures. 

17.5 The Delegations agreed to use a single TAC to manage NSAS herring in ICES Subarea 4 and Divisions 3.a and 7.d, replacing the former management approach based on A, B, C and D fleet TACs.  They further agreed that the single TAC would be shared between them using a single allocation key per Party, as set out in Table 1, and that all herring catches would be counted against the quotas of the respective Parties. 

17.6 The Delegations agreed to exchange more detailed yearly catch statistics on North Sea herring with the objective of distinguishing between catches of adult herring and juvenile herring, and that they would agree the format and the breakdown of those statistics by the 2026 intersessional meeting.

17.7 The Delegations noted the importance of minimising catches of juvenile herring in all fisheries as shown by the ICES MSE advice (ICES, 2025). They agreed that the sustainable management of juvenile bycatches would be the responsibility of each Party and transparent, and that each Party would decide how to manage bycatches within their internal allocation to keep juvenile fishing mortality low.

17.8 The Delegations underscored the importance of a robust, efficient and transparent system of Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) to ensure accurate reporting of herring catches, including herring bycatches. They recognised the need to cooperate to further improve MCS of management measures to ensure compliance and a correct accounting of all catches and landings of North Sea herring.

17.9 The Delegations referred to the ‘Stand-Alone Agreement’ signed in November 2022 (Agreed Record of Conclusions of Fisheries Consultations between Norway, the EU, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland and the UK on Control Measures for Pelagic Stocks in the Northeast Atlantic) where the Parties agreed to apply the management and control measures in the Agreed Record (including Annexes I-V) at the latest from 1 January 2026. 

17.10 The Delegations recalled that the Stand-Alone Agreement also established a Coastal State MCS Working Group 2023-2024 with 10 tasks as outlined in Annex VI of that agreement. The Delegations noted the report of the Coastal States MCS Working Group. 

17.11 The Delegations noted the ongoing consultations to update the Stand-Alone Agreement with further control measures. 

17.12 The Delegations stressed the importance of timely and effective implementation of the control measures concluded within the Stand-Alone Agreement and the importance of the timely conclusion of ongoing consultations to update those Agreed Records with further control measures for the pelagic stocks.

17.13 The Delegations agreed that the provisions of the Stand-Alone Agreement also applied to North Sea herring, as well as any revisions thereof.

17.14 The Delegations recognised the importance of effective controls of accurate weighing of bycatches of herring in the North Sea. The Delegations noted the ongoing work of the Parties to update the Stand-Alone Agreement, including additional control and sampling measures for industrial fisheries.

17.15 The Delegations referred to the 2026-2027 workplan for the North Sea MCS Working Group set out in Annex IX of this Agreed Record.  They agreed that, taking note of the measures to be implemented under the Stand-Alone Agreement, that Working Group would exchange experience and recommend best practice and MCS methodologies to control accurate weighing and catch registration of bycatches of the jointly managed stocks.  They further agreed that the Working Group may also facilitate observer missions to support this task and that duplication of effort should be avoided between the work of the Coastal State MCS Working Group on pelagic control and of the North Sea MCS Working Group. They also noted that the measures established by the Stand-Alone Agreement should be the focus of the Coastal State MCS Working Group. 

17.16 The Delegations agreed a long-term management strategy for NSAS herring, set out in Annex VI. They further agreed to submit a special request to ICES in early 2026 to request that ICES identifies, within the first year of the adoption of the LTMS, the exceptional circumstances under which managers should consider reviewing and/or suspending the LTMS. The Delegations further committed to request that ICES consult with managers if such circumstances are triggered, in which case the Parties would agree next steps.

17.17 The Delegations noted that ICES advised that, when the LTMS with TAC constraint is applied, catches of NSAS Herring in 2026 in the North Sea, Skagerrak and Kattegat, and eastern English Channel should be no more than 328,566 tonnes. This represents a decrease of 20% in the advice compared to 2025. 

17.18 The Delegations agreed to establish a TAC for 2026 in ICES Subarea 4 (North Sea), Divisions 3.a (Skagerrak and Kattegat) and Division 7.d (eastern English Channel) of 328,566 tonnes. 

17.19 The Delegations noted that the fishery for NSAS herring includes individuals from the Western Baltic spring spawning (WBSS) herring stock, which ICES estimates to be below Blim and has since 2019 been subject to zero-catch advice. The Delegations further noted that ICES have advised since 2023 that catches of WBSS herring in the NSAS herring fishery in Division 3.a and the eastern part of Divisions 4.a and 4.b be avoided to support the effective recovery of the WBSS herring stock. The catches have been relatively stable the last 10 years. The Delegations recalled that the EU and Norway have, since 2022, applied catch restrictions in Division 3.a to limit catches of WBSS herring resulting in a very low estimated fishing mortality the last three years. They noted that further measures are required in the North Sea, where the majority of WBSS herring catches now occur.

17.20 The Norwegian Delegation informed the EU and the UK Delegations that Norway will conduct during the first half of 2026 a public consultation with a view to establishing in 2026 spatial temporal management measures to reduce catches of WBSS herring and juvenile NSAS herring in the relevant areas of Norwegian waters of Divisions 4.a and 4.b. Those measures will take into account the findings of the 2022 joint Working Group report and other relevant scientific evidence. The Norwegian Delegation will notify the EU and the UK of the measures they will implement once finalised.

17.21 The UK and EU Delegations informed Norway of their agreement to continue, until 31 December 2035, their bilateral arrangement allowing for 50% of the EU quotas allocated to HER/03A. to be fished in UK waters of Subarea 4, without prejudice to agreement between the Parties to extend this arrangement in future years. They informed the Norwegian Delegation that this arrangement would be assessed in the course of 2030 to ensure that the measure is not undermining the sustainability of the North Sea herring stock. They also noted that they would closely monitor the utilisation of that flexibility to ensure compliance with catch limits, and agreed to engage in rapid consultations with one another in the event of potential non-compliance.

17.22 The UK and Norwegian Delegations informed the EU Delegation of the terms of their bilateral arrangement for 2026 between the UK and Norway. That arrangement sets out that, further to the allocations set out in Table 1, Norway will transfer 0.2% points of its North Sea herring share to the UK. In return, the UK will grant Norway annual access to the UK EEZ of ICES Subarea 4 for the duration of the arrangement set out in this Agreed Record on a single TAC management model for North Sea herring. That access tonnage would be set at 1.85% of the TAC for the year in which access is being granted. This access arrangement is in addition to an annual fixed access for Norway to fish 20,000 tonnes of North Sea herring in the UK EEZ of ICES Subarea 4 which will last for the same duration.  

17.23  The Delegations noted the non-fisheries consideration included in the annual ICES advice sheet concerning the unknown impact of other anthropogenic activities on spawning habitats, an element present in ICES advice since 2020. The Delegations agreed to engage with ICES in 2026 to ascertain how to develop the necessary knowledge to assess these impacts and consider how it could inform future management.