Management of shared fish stocks: coastal state agreed records 2024

Mackerel

Agreed record of fisheries consultations between Iceland, the European Union, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Norway and the United Kingdom on the management of mackerel in the north-east Atlantic for 2024

London, 18 October 2023

1. A delegation from Iceland headed by Gudmundur THORDARSON, a delegation from the European Union headed by Eva-María CARBALLEIRA FERNANDEZ, a delegation from the Faroe Islands headed by Herluf SIGVALDSSON, a delegation from Greenland headed by Iben FUNCH DØJ, a delegation from Norway headed by Ann Kristin WESTBERG, and a delegation from the United Kingdom headed by Colin FAULKNER met in London on 17-18 October 2023 to consult on the management of mackerel in the North-East Atlantic for 2024.

2. The delegations agreed that 739,386 tonnes should represent the level of catches for mackerel in the North-East Atlantic for 2024.

3. The delegations noted that, further to the commitments set out in the Agreed Record of 6 December 2022 on this stock, they had conducted several rounds of consultations in 2023 to agree a new suite of management measures for the stock. They further noted with regret that they had not yet been able to come to an agreement, despite having made good progress.

4. The delegations agreed that Parties will reconvene to address the issue of a quota-sharing arrangement as soon as possible, and no later than in early 2024.

5. The delegations agreed that, in anticipation of agreeing a new suite of management measures, they would each initially set quotas for 2024 at levels which would contribute to a conducive environment for the conclusion of their consultations. They further agreed that delegations will inform each other of the quotas they have set ahead of resuming those consultations. In this regard, the Parties discussed the need for exercising due restraint when it comes to transfers of unutilised quantities of their quota between years.

6. The delegations recalled their work to date on developing a new long-term management strategy for the stock. They recognised the importance of concluding a sharing arrangement as well as of awaiting the outcome of the upcoming ICES benchmark exercise on the stock, likely to begin in late 2024, before coming to a conclusion on that strategy.

7. The delegations encouraged the Parties to develop and coordinate their scientific research activities in order to improve the information available for the assessment and the management of this stock.

8. The delegations welcomed the outcomes of the Report of the 2023 Coastal States Working Group on the distribution of mackerel in the Northeast Atlantic, October 2023 and agreed to update this report in a timely manner, chaired by Iceland and the United Kingdom.

9. The delegations exchanged final quota and catch information for 2022 as well as preliminary information for 2023. This information is provided in Annex I of this Agreed Record.

10. The delegations agreed to continue to provide quota and catch information in the same format as set out in Annex I of this Agreed Record. They also agreed to exchange information from 2023 and onwards regarding their fishing activities including exchanges and access provisions as outlined in Annex II of this Agreed Record.

11. The delegations agreed that each Party shall by 1 May 2024 provide updated information on the issues set out in paragraph 10 of this Agreed Record to the chair of the annual consultations for 2025, and that the chair should forward that information as soon as practicable to all Parties.

London, 18 October 2023

Gudmundur Thordarson for the Delegation of Iceland         

Eva-María Carballeira-Fernandez for the Delegation of the European Union

Herluf Sigvaldsson for the Delegation of the Faroe Islands 

Iben Funch Døj for the Delegation of Greenland

Ann Kristin Westberg for the Delegation of the Norway     

Colin Faulkner for the Delegation of the United Kingdom

Annex 1

This annex includes a table showing quotas and catches of mackerel in the North-East Atlantic from 2022 to 2023. The table can be viewed in the attached PDF.

Annex 2

This annex includes tables showing transfers and access arrangements for mackerel in 2023. The table can be viewed in the attached PDF.