European Union and the United Kingdom - fisheries consultations: written record 2025

Mixed fisheries science

The Delegations continued to note that there are technical interactions between stocks caught together in mixed fisheries and continue to consider how best to support the recovery of depleted stocks through both TAC-setting and the decoupling of target and bycatch stocks through technical measures, taking into account all the available scientific evidence.

In 2023 the Parties submitted a joint request to ICES on mixed fisheries science to evaluate sensitivities of catch projections within the current ICES mixed fisheries models, and to provide advice on the strength of technical interactions between different stocks. The Delegations welcomed ICES’ response to this request received in Spring 2024 and, noting their previous commitment to do so, agreed to consider the outcomes of the joint ICES request in the SCF in 2025 to assess how and whether findings are to be taken into account in future consultations.  

The Delegations recognised that there may be benefits of a coordinated approach to further developing the evidence base on mixed fisheries interactions, to underpin efforts to support the recovery of depleted stocks in mixed fisheries. There may also be benefits to jointly exploring whether there are alternative approaches to setting opportunities for the most vulnerable stocks within a mixed fishery.

The Parties agreed to establish an informal working group in 2025 under the SCF, to consider the above matters further. 

As a result, the Parties continue to:

i. agree that depleted stocks are taken as incidental bycatches, and that the mortality of these stocks is influenced by the level at which other TACs, for stocks which are also caught in the same fishery, are set;

ii. agree that the approach to TAC-setting will, where relevant, look beyond single stock catch advice in order to contribute to management objectives, and consider all the best available evidence and other relevant factors including long-term and short-term socio-economic considerations;

iii. note that both single stock advice and mixed fisheries scenarios have different strengths and limitations, and that work is ongoing between parties to better understand these strengths and limitations, supported by the ICES response to the joint request.  

iv. agree that a proportion of incidental by-catches may be de-coupled via technical and other spatial and temporal measures. As a potential future avenue of development, the joint ICES request asked ICES to consider if gear-based and spatial measures can be considered in the mixed fisheries scenarios;

v. note that current ICES mixed fisheries scenarios currently do not cover all geographical areas, such as the West of Scotland, or all stocks in mixed fisheries, but that the multi-stock character of these fisheries will, where relevant, be taken into account using other sources of evidence; and

vi. agree that the Parties will work together through the SCF to continue to define how the Parties want to develop mixed fisheries science further, including considering areas and stocks not currently included in the mixed fisheries models.