European Union, Norway and the United Kingdom - fisheries consultations: agreed records 2026
Agreed records of consultations from meetings of delegations from the United Kingdom, the European Union and Norway, held in November and December 2025, on the joint management of shared North Sea stocks.
23 Monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) measures for joint stocks
23.1 The Delegations agreed that comprehensive management regimes require efficient and trustworthy MCS measures, and that strategic and operative MCS cooperation between the inspections services of the Parties is a prerequisite to continuously improving compliance and achieving a level playing field. Hence, the Delegations welcomed initiatives to improve dialogue and exchange experience between the inspection services to increase the general understanding of the Parties´ MCS regimes.
23.2 The Delegations referred to the decision in 2018 by the EU and Norway to establish a Working Group on MCS of fisheries on joint stocks in the North Sea. The Delegations noted that the Working Group delivered its final report in June 2024 and that the report was presented during the annual consultations on 5 November 2024 in Brussels. The Working Group was able to recommend best practice in several areas.
23.3 The Delegations referred to the commitment in the 2025 Agreed Record of Fisheries Consultations between Norway, EU and the UK to develop a new Terms of Reference for a Working Group on MCS of fisheries on joint stocks in the North Sea.
23.4 The Delegations agreed to apply the Terms of Reference for the North Sea MCS Working Group for 2026-2027 as set out in Annex VIII. The Delegations agreed to the work plan outlined in Annex IX. The Delegations agreed to have an online planning meeting prior to the first meeting of the Working Group by the end of quarter one in 2026. The Delegations agreed that the location of the first meeting would be in the UK.
23.5 The Delegations referred to paragraph 17.13 in which the Delegations agreed that the Stand-Alone Agreement for control measures for pelagic stocks applies also to North Sea herring, as well as any revisions thereof.