The EU and Norway have reached a new agreement on mackerel fishing quotas, following lengthy negotiations. Mackerel is a key fish species for both the EU and Norway, and the two parties have been working together to sustainably manage the fishery.

Under the new agreement, the total allowable catch (TAC) for mackerel in the North East Atlantic will be set at 1.02 million tonnes for 2021. This is a slight increase from the 2020 TAC of 900,000 tonnes, reflecting the healthy state of the mackerel stock.

The agreement also includes a new sharing arrangement for the TAC. Norway will receive 47.5% of the total quota, while the EU will receive 52.5%. This reflects the relative fishing interests of the two parties in the mackerel fishery.

The EU and Norway have been working on a long-term agreement for the mackerel fishery since 2014, when Iceland and the Faroe Islands began to increase their own mackerel quotas without consulting with the other parties. This led to overfishing of the stock and an imbalance in the sharing of the TAC.

The new agreement with Norway is seen as a positive step towards more sustainable management of the mackerel fishery. It is hoped that Iceland and the Faroe Islands will also come to the negotiating table to agree on a joint management plan for the stock.

In addition to the TAC and sharing arrangement, the EU and Norway have also agreed on measures to improve the scientific advice used to set fishing quotas, as well as mechanisms to ensure compliance with the agreement.

The mackerel fishery is an important industry for many communities in the EU and Norway, providing both employment and a source of protein for consumers. The new agreement between the two parties is a positive step towards ensuring the long-term sustainability of the fishery, and demonstrates the importance of international cooperation in managing shared fish stocks.