EU Fisheries Council agrees on fishing opportunities for the North Sea and North-East Atlantic in difficult times
Federal Minister Rainer: Result of negotiations strengthens economic planning security for German fisheries
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After lengthy negotiations, the EU fisheries ministers reached an agreement on the total allowable catches for 2026 in the North Sea, North-East Atlantic and other waters in Brussels on Saturday night (12.12.). The stocks that are important for Germany were previously the subject of fisheries consultations with the United Kingdom and Norway.
In view of the increasingly poor state of a large proportion of fish stocks, far-reaching quota reductions are unavoidable. In addition, geopolitical tensions have made the negotiations particularly difficult. Nevertheless, Germany was able to achieve a respectable negotiation result, which opens up planning prospects for German fisheries in difficult times. Germany also successfully campaigned with other EU member states to prevent the redistribution of quotas, particularly for mackerel.
The Federal Minister of Agriculture, Food and Home Affairs, Alois Rainer, commented: "With the outcome of the negotiations, we have secured important fishing opportunities for German fisheries in very difficult times. Our aim in the negotiations was to continue to create a framework for competitive economic activity based on sustainable stock management. It is good that we can give our fishermen this planning security. In the case of eel, the continuation of the current measures is a good and sensible compromise. In order to ensure the conservation of this unique stock, we must now also look at other causes for the poor state of the eel stock outside of fishing - such as the continuity of rivers."
The EU successfully reached an agreement with the United Kingdom and Norway on a new management approach for herring in the North Sea, which was negotiated over several years. In line with scientific recommendations, the fishing opportunities for 2026 will be reduced by 29 percent. At the same time, the western Baltic herring, which is particularly important for Germany, will be better protected.
Fishing opportunities for the cod stock, which is under pressure, will fall by 44%, with catches in the central and southern North Sea limited to 1,500 tons. Germany welcomes the fact that the first conservation measures for the protection and recovery of cod have also been adopted for 2026, including seasonal closures of fisheries in the stock's spawning and nursery areas. This is an important step forward in the protection of cod. In line with scientific recommendations, fishing opportunities for saithe, haddock and plaice in the North Sea are also decreasing in order to enable stock conservation.
There is stability for the protective measures for eel - the regulations already in force this year will be continued. In particular, this includes a six-month closed season, which is still to be determined by the respective member states for the North Sea, and the ban on recreational fishing for eel in marine waters. The countries bordering the Baltic Sea are once again obliged to agree on a common regulation for the coming year. If this agreement is not reached, a single closed season will apply from September 15, 2026 to March 15, 2027.
In addition to the quotas for the North Sea and the North-East Atlantic, fishing opportunities have also been agreed for the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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