Herring in the Firth of Clyde: Recommending the total allowable catch 2026: consultation analysis

1. Introduction

On 17 June 2026, the Marine Directorate (MD) of the Scottish Government issued a public consultation seeking views on a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for herring in the Firth of Clyde for 2026. The consultation process closed on 8 July 2026. Accordingly, this report provides a summary and analysis of the written responses to the question posed in Section 2 of the consultation document and describes the outcome of the consultation.

1.1 Background

The Clyde herring stock is defined as those herring found in the maritime area situated to the north-east of a line drawn between the Mull of Kintyre (55° 17,9′ N, 05° 47,8′ W), a point at position (55° 04′ N, 05° 23′ W), and Corsewall Point (55° 00,5′ N, 05° 09,4′ W), all of which lie exclusively within Scottish territorial waters.

The MD carried out this consultation on behalf of the UK Fisheries Administrations, to seek views on the level of the 2026 Clyde herring TAC. Following consideration of the consultation responses, the Scottish Government has made a recommendation to the UK Secretary of State who will make a decision on the TAC level.

1.2 Requirements for determining the TAC

As set out in Annex 36 of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), the Clyde herring stock is present only in UK (specifically Scottish) waters and is not a shared stock with the EU.

Setting the TAC for Clyde herring is therefore the sole responsibility of the UK. It should be noted that, similarly, responsibility for setting the Clyde herring TAC was delegated to the UK by the EU prior to 2021, in line with Article 6 of the EU TAC and Quota Regulation (Council Regulation (EU) 2020/123).

1.3 Consultation

A three-week consultation was undertaken, mirroring the approach used in previous years, and afforded respondents the same length of time to provide views. The consultation document proposed to set the TAC level at 583 tonnes for 2026, in line with the scientific advice.

Respondents were asked: What is your view on the proposal for Clyde herring in 2026?