Northern Shelf Blue Whiting Fisheries Management Plan

Fisheries management

Management strategy for Northern Shelf blue whiting

In the JFS, the UK fisheries policy authorities lay out a shared ambition to deliver ‘world class, sustainable management of our sea fisheries and aquaculture across the UK, and to play our part in supporting delivery of this globally’. The JFS also states that ‘As part of being an independent coastal State, the fisheries policy authorities will work together to support a vibrant, profitable, and sustainable fishing and aquaculture sector supported by a healthy marine environment that is resilient to climate change’. These ambitions are managed in line with numerous domestic and international policy drivers, which oblige action to consider and mitigate for the wider adverse environmental impacts of fishing activity.

In UK waters fisheries are managed in line with UK fisheries legislation (such as the 2020 Act, UK and devolved administration secondary legislation) and licence conditions where appropriate.

The management of the fishery in the UK is carried out within this overarching context. Blue whiting is a jointly managed stock with other coastal States. Quota opportunities are determined between the UK, EU, Norway, Faroe and Iceland. The approach to coastal States negotiations follows the principles for international negotiation stated in the JFS.

Once the coastal State conclude an agreement on the TAC, it is set out in an Agreed Record of the consultations. However, there is currently no agreement between the coastal States on how the TAC should be divided between the Parties, therefore shares are set unilaterally by each Party which, when combined, have totalled more than 100% in recent years. Discussions are ongoing between coastal States to address this issue through the establishment of a new sharing arrangement. A comprehensive sharing arrangement between all the coastal States is important for securing the long-term sustainability of the stock and is an action set out within this FMP. Fishing Party for this stock (Greenland and the Russian Federation) catches can be limited by a measure agreed through the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC). We will continue to promote a science- and evidence-based approach to managing this stock.

Following annual trilateral negotiations, the UK’s share of the TAC is published in the UK Quota Determination document by the Secretary of State under section 23 of the 2020 Act.^[9] Following this, the UK’s quota is apportioned between the four UK Fisheries Administrations in line with the UK Quota Management Rules.^[10] Each UK Fisheries Administration then allocates its share of apportioned quota to vessels/licences under their administration, in line with their quota management^[11] and Section 25 of the Fisheries 2020 Act. Quotas are transferable, for example, they may be exchanged between the management groups which represent UK fishing vessels or exchanged with the EU.

The agreed LTMS^[12] set a Harvest Control Rule (HCR) in line with MSY reference points and was deemed to be precautionary by ICES. However, ICES have also warned that due to Parties exceeding both the agreed TAC and F_MSY, current implementation of the LTMS may no longer be precautionary. The 2025 coastal States agreed record for blue whiting noted that the LTMS is regarded by ICES as consistent with the precautionary approach under the assumption that the catch advice is adhered to. It also noted that the long-term strategy for blue whiting should have been reviewed after five years. The coastal States agreed that this review needs to be coordinated with plans for benchmarking in ICES, and that the negotiating Parties will return to the issue once the benchmarking is completed for blue whiting. The LTMS is designed to improve stability of catches between years while ensuring high yields and keeping risk to the stock low over the long term.

Current technical measures

All fishing activity in UK waters is managed through a range of technical measures. These technical measures were historically laid out in the form of technical conservation regulations written into the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) legislation and through various EU delegated acts, which have now been retained into UK law following the UK’s exit from the European Union and are referred to as ‘assimilated law’. Following the UK’s exit from the EU, the UK Government and devolved administrations have various powers available to them to introduce new technical measures, for example by using licence conditions, or through secondary legislation under the 2020 Act or other relevant UK laws.

Technical measures tend to apply to specific groupings of vessels, or types of fish, and as such can be very similar. This means that the technical measures in place to support sustainable exploitation of the blue whiting stock, are likely to be similar to those in place to manage the other pelagic stocks.

Fishing for blue whiting is widely dispersed, both spatially and temporally: consequently, the regulatory landscape is complicated as blue whiting occurs in different jurisdictions and therefore different rules may be in place.

Current technical measures^[13] in place in UK waters to ensure sustainable exploitation of the blue whiting stock include:

• Minimum Conservation References Sizes (MCRS) (which prevents targeting of undersized fish by ensuring that only fish above the MCRS can be sold for human consumption),
• Minimum mesh sizes and structure of fishing nets (which set a minimum standard intended to reduce catches of fish below the MCRS and generally make fishing operations more efficient and effective),
• Other domestic legislation stipulates that all catches of quota stocks, which includes blue whiting and includes all catches below MCRS must be landed and counted against quota unless exemptions apply.

Further detail regarding technical measures can be found on the UK Government’s Technical Conservation and Landing Obligation rules and regulations webpage.^[14]

Current monitoring and enforcement

Fisheries regulations serve a range of purposes, including the prevention of actions which adversely impact the sustainability of the marine environment. Fisheries policy authorities are focused on reducing the main risks for non-compliance with those regulations.

Fisheries enforcement authorities (the Marine Directorate of the Scottish Government, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), the Welsh Government and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) in this instance) carry out enforcement that is intelligence-led, risk-based or is required by the UK’s international obligations. Enforcement of the respective regulations (domestic and international) is in line with applicable guidelines for regulators. Across the UK there are a range of assets to support this, including compliance vessels, surveillance aircraft, and the UK Fisheries Monitoring Centre and Marine Enforcement officers conducting physical and office-based inspections throughout the chain of traceability.

Fishing vessels over 12 metres are required to have fully operational satellite Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS), and electronic logbooks, enabling authorities to remotely monitor and control fishing activity and encourage higher compliance. Understanding and being able to monitor and control where fishing activity is taking place is an important part of fisheries management, particularly where area restrictions are in place. Accurate and robust locational data is also crucial for informing marine planning decisions.

In addition, from 7 March 2026, pelagic fishing vessels operating in Scottish waters, and Scottish pelagic vessels wherever they are fishing, must have REM equipment on board. This helps deter and detect pelagic fishing vessels from engaging in any illegal fishing activity. It also helps to deliver a greater confidence in the quality of scientific evidence on fish catches, which is important for stock assessment and advice on sustainable fishing levels.

UK fisheries authorities apply a fishing vessel licensing regime along with control measures throughout the whole chain of traceability from catching to sale. These measures include requirements to record catch details whilst at sea, the weight of catch landed, transport and takeover documents once landed and sales notes from registered buyers. This comprehensive data stream enables fisheries authorities to effectively monitor fishing activity and compliance with national and local regulations.

These measures are not specific to the blue whiting fishery but apply across the wider pelagic fishing fleet. Compliance risks are factored into the overarching risk management approach taken by the UK fisheries enforcement teams, and also as part of the international monitoring, control and surveillance group (MCS) for pelagic fish stocks in the Northeast Atlantic and will continue to be monitored on an ongoing basis. As a stock managed with other Coastal States, it is important that this FMP reflects appropriate actions identified through the MCS group.

Actions to maintain the current monitoring and enforcement approach are contained within ‘Actions’ under policy 3.