The UK fishing industry will have access to 150,000 tonnes of fishing opportunities following the conclusion of annual fishing negotiations with the EU.
- The UK fishing industry to benefit from 150,000 tonnes of fishing opportunities - 15,000 tonnes more than in 2024 - following negotiations with EU
- £890 million in fishing opportunities secured for British fishing fleets, boosting growth
- The agreements highlight all parties' continued commitment to manage fisheries sustainably
The UK fishing industry will have access to 150,000 tonnes of fishing opportunities - 15,000 tonnes more than in 2024 - following the conclusion of annual fishing negotiations with the EU.
The agreement is worth up to £360 million for the industry.
This follows the UK's trilateral agreement with the EU and Norway last week, which secured UK fisheries 290,000 tonnes of fishing opportunities in the North Sea and surrounding waters.
This is on top of 280,000 tonnes, worth around £240 million, from catch limits agreed earlier in the year on widely distributed stocks with coastal States in the northeast Atlantic.
In total, this brings fishing opportunities secured for the UK fleet in 2025 in the main negotiating forums to 720,000 tonnes, worth up to £890 million based on historic landing prices.
From these three negotiating forums, the UK has gained up to 120,000 tonnes more quota from the 2025 annual negotiations than it would have as an EU member state.
Fisheries Minister Daniel Zeichner said:
Through these sets of negotiations this Government has agreed deals securing quota for stocks totalling up to £890 million for the UK fleet in 2025.
This is another example of how we are delivering on our Plan for Change, boosting our British fishing industry by supporting the lifeblood of many coastal communities.
The UK's approach to negotiations
Sustainability has been at the heart of the UK's approach to negotiations, pushing for decisions based on the best available science to protect key stocks and support the long-term viability of the UK fishing industry.
Advice from scientists at the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) is the starting point for the UK's approach and, where possible, catch limits have been set at or within these advised levels. Economic and social considerations are appropriately balanced alongside this scientific advice.
The outcome of annual fisheries negotiations will be published in the Secretary of State determination of fishing opportunities for British boats by the end of the year.
Throughout the negotiations, the UK Government has worked closely with the devolved governments to ensure the benefits of the negotiations are spread across the UK.
The UK fishing industry will benefit from:
- Increased anglerfish quota;
- the continuation of the plaice 7de swap with the EU that allows for other target fisheries to continue where plaice is caught as a bycatch;
- an increase within scientific advice of some catch limits for seabass; and
- securing the continuation of the Irish sea herring fishery.
In other international fisheries negotiations this winter the UK has:
- led conservation and management measures on porbeagle and Rockall haddock in the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission, both being adopted by consensus;
- secured endorsement of our proposal for a retention ban of vulnerable mobulid rays and additional time next year for ongoing negotiations on bluefin tuna allocations in at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna;
- successfully strengthened commitments on several aspects of fisheries management in the UN's Resolution on Sustainable Fisheries, including pushing for progress in combating harmful subsidies at the WTO, highlighting the importance of transparency in fisheries management, maintaining ambition for the plastics treaty, and emphasising the importance of the precautionary approach; and
- played a key role in securing a Recommendation on Eliminating Government Support to Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing, within the OECD's Fisheries Committee.
Notes
Values based on full uptake of fishing opportunities and provisional 2023 landing prices. All figures are rounded and may change slightly once a full analysis has been completed.
Bilateral fisheries negotiations between the UK and the Faroe Islands, and the UK and Norway are currently on-going.
The Agreed Records for the negotiations can be found on gov.uk:
- UK and EU bilateral negotiation
- Trilateral negotiations
- UK, EU and Norway trilateral negotiations
- Coastal States negotiations
Outcome of UK/EU bilateral negotiations
This deal set catch limits of around 70 total allowable catches (TACs), monitoring arrangement for non-quota stocks as well as other arrangements on seabass and albacore. The agreement also commits the UK and EU to work together to provide more sustainable fisheries management, including
For non-quota stocks (NQS), the UK and the EU agreed a roll-over of access arrangements for 2025 to ensure continued access to fish NQS in EU waters. UK fleet landings for these stocks are historically worth around £30 million a year. We also agreed to roll-over existing joint management measures and increase within ICES advice some catch limits for seabass, and a roll-over of access arrangements for spurdog in the North Sea and albacore tuna.
The speed with which the negotiations concluded this year is a sign of the effective implementation of the TCA since 2020, which has built on collaborative efforts through the SCF.
Outcome of UK/EU/Norway trilateral negotiations
This deal agreed catch limits on six North Sea fish stocks including cod, haddock and herring and further stocks in other waters around the UK.
Read the relevant announcement on gov.uk
