Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
European Union fisheries ministers have reached a political agreement on fishing opportunities in the Atlantic, North Sea, Mediterranean and Black Sea for 2025. The deal, reached unanimously today after two days of negotiations, sets fishing limits, also known as “total allowable catches” (TACs), and fishing effort limits for the most important commercial fish stocks. Fishing effort refers to the size and power of a vessel’s engine as well as the number of days spent fishing. A European statement said: The agreed limits are in line with the goal of ensuring the long-term sustainability of fish stocks and protecting marine ecosystems, while at the same time reducing the impact on communities that depend on fishing. “The process of defining fishing opportunities this year was particularly difficult, but we were able to secure a balanced agreement. It will allow us to maintain fish stocks at sustainable levels and protect the marine environment, while taking into account the viability of the sector,” said Hungarian Agriculture Minister István Nagy, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, in a European statement. “Defining fishing effort limits in the Western Mediterranean was particularly difficult, but we were able to reach a constructive compromise.”
The political agreement in detail
The stocks covered by the two proposals are those managed by the EU either alone, in partnership with neighbouring non-EU countries, or through agreements reached in regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs).
Following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, fish stocks managed jointly by the EU and the UK are considered shared resources under international law. Under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the two parties hold annual talks to agree on fishing limits for shared stocks. These talks were successfully concluded and the outcome of the EU-UK deal was approved by a written procedure, before the Agriculture and Fisheries Council. Today’s political agreement integrates the outcome of the EU-UK deal into the main regulation for the Atlantic and North Sea.
Bilateral consultations with Norway and trilateral consultations on EU-UK-Norway stocks were also successfully concluded ahead of the Council meeting. The figures for these stocks also form part of the overall political agreement reached.
Atlantic and North Sea
For the Atlantic and North Sea, the agreement covers 21 agreed aggregate fishing areas (AFAs) administered independently by the EU. The number of AFAs negotiated this year is lower since the Council agreed a number of multi-year AFAs in December 2023, to increase predictability and stability for the industry.
Following positive scientific advice and the improved state of the stocks, Ministers agreed to increase the catch limits for the following stocks:

Megrim (23%) and Anglerfish (17%) in Iberian Atlantic waters

Common plaice in the Bay of Biscay (1%)

Norwegian crayfish in the southern Bay of Biscay and the Cantabrian Sea (134%)
To protect the stocks, in line with scientific advice, while seeking to balance socio-economic considerations, Ministers agreed to reduce the catch limits for:

Kattegat cod by 17%; this applies to 2025 and 2026 and only bycatch is allowed

Red seabream in Iberian waters by 62%; This is also a multi-year catch total for 2025 and 2026
Norwegian lobster in the Bay of Biscay by 39%
Common plaice in Area 3a by 36%
For hake in Iberian Atlantic waters and tilapia in the Kattegat, the Council agreed to maintain the same catch limits for 2024.
Given the continuing critical situation of the European eel, the Council decided to continue the six-month closure period for any commercial eel fishing activities, with some exemptions already agreed for 2023 and 2024, and to continue the ban on recreational fishing.
Mediterranean and Black Sea
With regard to the Western Mediterranean, Ministers agreed to reduce fishing effort by trawlers by 66% in Spanish and French waters and by 38% in French and Italian waters to protect demersal fish stocks, taking into account the socio-economic impact on fleets.
This reduction is in line with the objectives of the Western Mediterranean Multiannual Plan for demersal fish stocks, which will enter its permanent phase on 1 January 2025, after a five-year transition period. During the permanent phase of the Western Mediterranean Multiannual Plan, maximum sustainable yield (MSY) ranges will apply. Fishing at MSY levels means catching the maximum proportion of fish stock that can be safely removed from the stock while maintaining its ability to produce maximum sustainable yields in the long term.

In addition, Ministers agreed to continue using the compensation mechanism first established for 2022, and to allocate additional days to fishing vessels that choose more selective gear or are covered by national conservation measures, as an incentive to increase the protection of species.

Stock.

The measures agreed by the Council together will help contribute to reducing fishing mortality, while reducing the socio-economic impact on the sector.

Compared to 2024, the Council also agreed to reduce the maximum catch limits for blue and red shrimp in Spanish and French waters by 10% and by 6% in Italian and French waters.

For giant red prawns, it agreed to reduce the catch limits by 6% compared to 2024 in Italian and French waters.

In the Black Sea, the Council agreed to increase the total allowable catch by 3.85% compared to 2024 for turbot, which includes the carry-over of the unused EU turbot quota from 2023. It also agreed to maintain the closure period for turbot fishing from 15 April to 15 June.

For small fish, there was a carry-over compared to last year.

Next steps
After legal and linguistic checks, the Council will adopt the regulations at a future meeting. They will then be published in the Official Journal and will apply from 1 January 2025.

It is worth noting that setting the allowable catch limits and quotas is an annual exercise carried out by the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in December. Ministers seek to reach a political agreement on the catch limits and fishing effort for commercial fish stocks for the following years, along with the Member States’ quotas for each species.
The Political Agreement is based on proposals prepared by the Commission and takes into account the best available scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF). It also respects the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), which are to ensure that EU fisheries are environmentally, economically and socially sustainable. Furthermore, it takes into account the EU’s multiannual plans for the various sea basins and follows decisions taken within regional fisheries management organisations.