European Union, Norway and the United Kingdom - fisheries consultations: agreed records 2023

Long-term management strategies

12.1 The Delegations reaffirmed their commitment to having long-term management plans (LTMP) in place for jointly managed stocks and committed to progressing this work in 2023.

12.2 The Delegations agreed that, in taking forward work on LTMPs, they would use their best endeavours to submit to ICES an LTMP evaluation request within three months of the publication of the outcome of a benchmark exercise carried out on a shared stock. They agreed that, in advance of submitting an evaluation request, they would work together with a view to define the management objectives for the LTMP, an initial set of Harvest Control Rules, and stability mechanisms for the evaluation. The delegations also agreed that, when considering their response to an ICES benchmark exercise, they would assess whether an HCR evaluation would suffice or whether they would ask ICES for a full Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE).

12.3 The Delegations noted the importance of working collaboratively with ICES throughout the evaluation process as well as the importance of protecting the independence of ICES processes.  They agreed that their representatives would jointly facilitate frequent communication with the ICES group conducting the evaluation process. The aim of this collaboration would be to ensure that key management objectives are adequately reflected in the evaluation, that key performance indicators needed for the selection of an LTMS are generated, and that the suite of strategies evaluated have the features and levels of performance desired by managers.;.

12.4 The Delegations agreed to form an ad hoc sub-group to facilitate the delivery of this work, particularly for cod and saithe which have upcoming benchmarks. The role of the subgroup should include providing recommendations to the head of delegations on the parameters of the ICES requests, and facilitating communication with the ICES working group. However, all decisions will be taken jointly by the heads of delegations.

12.5 It was agreed that this subgroup should provide an update of the progress made on the cod LTMP request, following the ICES benchmark exercise, at the intersessional meeting in May/June 2023.