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.
19 Saithe
19.1 The Delegations noted that according to the ICES MSY approach, catches in 2026 should be no more than 60,167 tonnes. This represents a decrease of 24% compared to the advice for 2025. ICES estimates that discards and BMS landings are at 7.4% of total catch (by weight) in 2024. ICES projects discard rates of 5.5% of total catch (by weight) in 2025.
19.2 The Delegations agreed to establish a TAC for 2026 in ICES Subareas 4 (North Sea) and 6 (Rockall and West of Scotland), and Division 3.a (Skagerrak and Kattegat) of 59,661 tonnes. This is a decrease of 25% compared to the TAC for 2025.
19.3 The Delegations agreed that the resulting TAC for Subarea 4 and Division 3.a is 54,053 tonnes (90.60%), and the TAC for Subarea 6.a is 5,608 tonnes (9.40%).