Fishing - North Sea mackerel 2026: Scottish 10m and under vessels (AU licence category)

10M AND UNDER NORTH SEA MACKEREL FISHERY 2026

SITUATION

In 2025 there was a 25% cut to the mackerel TAC. This has been followed by a 48% cut in 2026. These back-to-back cuts are now biting hard on how much quota can be allocated to the 10m and under fleet.

The UK will have a quota of only 703 tonnes in 2026. Scotland will take a little over 600 tonnes, of which we intend to allocate roughly 500 tonnes (82%) to the 10mu group (71% of the UK total, typically the share is around 66%).

This will be supplemented by a further 100 tonnes which we intentionally did not fish in 2025. This was prudent and necessary management, as we were aware of the looming cuts.

Typically we would aim to have just over 1,000 tonnes available for the group. In order to deliver that, we will set aside 400 tonnes of the WS mackerel, which is permitted to be landed from 4a from 1 August to 31 December.

This means that the allocation by sub-group will be as follows (roughly):

East coast     100

Moray Firth    425

Orkney           50

Shetland        425

Total               1,000 (of which 400 tonnes must be landed after 1 August)

 

MANAGEMENT

Given the reduced opportunities, and the likelihood that garnering further quota in-year will be extremely difficult, it emphasises the need to ensure that the sub-groups (and the fleet in total) do not exceed these limits.

The fishery would normally open from May. We are content to keep that under review, possibly opening later if the fish are not prevalent. We can open the fishery for each sub-group from different dates.

The catch limits have been managed on a fortnightly basis for several years but it may be more prudent to move to a weekly limit for 2026.

The figure for the catch limit is also under review. A simplistic assessment of applying last year’s limits to this year’s fishery would likely result in an 8-week fishery (or possibly shorter), rather than the normal 12+ weeks.

 

FISH1 SUBMISSIONS

After the fishery’s closure last year (19 October) over 150 tonnes of mackerel was logged. We typically anticipate a 60-80 tonne of ‘missing’ landings from late retuns of FISH1 forms.

As you may be able to infer, such a backlog will make management of this year’s quota difficult, which could lead to overly cautious decision-making or breeching the quota.

In order to avoid negative outcomes, we remind all vessel owners and skippers to submit their FISH1 forms regularly and within a few days of the end of each week (Sunday).

 

NEXT STEPS

We are keen to hear views from fishers and their representatives and we will be holding conversations, via the regional inshore fisheries groups (rIFGs), in March & April, to reach a decision by May.

Views are primarily sought on:

• Opening dates for fisheries (flexible)
• Periodic limits for fixing catch limits; weekly/fortnightly
• Catch limit