Independent report

Assessing the sustainability of fisheries catch limits negotiated by the UK for 2024

Published 10 April 2024

Executive summary

The Fisheries Act 2020 refers to fisheries objectives, one of which is the precautionary objective: ‘that exploitation of marine stocks restores and maintains populations of harvested species above biomass levels capable of producing maximum sustainable yield’.

The UK, as an independent coastal state, is committed to achieving sustainable fisheries management and increasingly setting fishing opportunities consistent with scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) encompassing both their maximum sustainable yield (MSY) and precautionary approach (PA) advice.

The fishery management units covered by total allowable catches (TACs) used for many international fisheries rarely align with the ICES stock assessment units. This mismatch makes assessing the TACs against the scientific advice highly complex and potentially open to interpretation.

This report provides an assessment of the TACs negotiated in bilateral UK-EU, trilateral UK-EU-Norway, The North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) and coastal states negotiations for setting catch limits for 2024. In 2022, the publication of the first report (Bell and others, 2022) presented the outcome from assessing the sustainability of catch limits negotiated by the UK for 2020 to 2022 applying the independently peer-reviewed methodology review (Nash and others, 2021). See Fisheries: analysis of the outcomes of annual negotiations for UK fishing opportunities between 2020 and 2023.

This report provides the assessment of negotiated catch limits for 84 TACs agreed for 2024. In parallel to the international negotiations, there are TACs set unilaterally by the UK which have not been included in this assessment.

In order to provide a consistent suite of TACs which can be reported across multiple years, a set of 79 ‘baseline’ TACs have been identified (see section 4).  

For 2024, 36 of the 79 baseline TACs were consistent with ICES advice (46%), compared to 32 TACs (40%) in 2023. This represents an additional 6% in the number of baseline TACs which were set in line with the ICES advice compared to 2023. Once again, 2 baseline TACs could not be scored.

Breaking this down to the advice type (MSY or PA), 29 out of 56 TACs (52%) based on MSY advice were set in line with the advice and 7 out of 21 (33%) TACs based on PA advice were set in line with the advice.

The total number of baseline TACs passing the assessment has increased annually since 2021. There was an increase of 4 more baseline TACs passing the assessment between 2023 and 2024. 

	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Total number of baseline TACs passing the assessment	27	26	27	32	36

Introduction

The fisheries sustainability assessment detailed in this report is the fourth report under a new assessment methodology (Nash and others, 2021), the first being published in 2022 (Bell and others, 2022). The Environmental Improvement Plan highlights the UK’s commitment to ‘publish each year a transparent and scientifically robust assessment of the sustainability outcomes of our annual fisheries negotiations’.

As an independent coastal state with a commitment made in the Joint Fisheries Statement to achieving sustainable fisheries management, the UK’s objective is to increasingly set fishing opportunities consistent with scientific advice provided by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), whether based on maximum sustainable yield (MSY) or the precautionary approach (PA).

In 2020, Defra commissioned a methodology review to assess whether quotas (TACs) were set at sustainable levels, involving an expert panel. The terms of reference for the expert panel were summarised as ‘to provide an agreed methodology which enables fisheries managers to determine whether a quota (TAC) was set at a sustainable level and communicate this information effectively’. This MSY methodology review (Nash and others, 2021) was undertaken in 2021 and demonstrated the ministerial commitment to strengthening sustainable fisheries management for the long-term benefit of our marine environment and fishing industry. For the background to the review and further details see (Bell and others, 2022).

This report documents why a forward-looking or intention-based assessment is appropriate for reporting on the UK’s negotiated outcomes. However, in fisheries management, intentions do not always match outcomes as fishery forecasts of population size and mortality rates are not known with certainty. Therefore, this assessment should be viewed in conjunction with outcome-based reporting such as that under the Marine Strategy and UK Biodiversity Indicators, which retrospectively measure and report on the status of UK stocks and fishing pressure.

ICES assessment areas and total allowable catches (TACs) management areas are often not aligned, necessitating that ICES advice be interpreted and translated into the TAC management areas. This mismatch makes assessing the TACs against the scientific advice highly complex and potentially open to interpretation.

The findings of the methodology review and the principles agreed to assess consistency with MSY have subsequently been broadened for the purposes of evaluating negotiated outcomes and applied to include all TACs of interest to the UK which relate to either ICES MSY advice, ICES precautionary advice or advice relating to agreed management plans.

This allows for most TACs listed in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) to be assessed and evaluated for consistency with ICES scientific advice, thus providing an opportunity for the UK to set a clear benchmark for the reporting of negotiated catch limits.

Background to the assessment of negotiation outcomes in relation to scientific advice

Biological stock versus TAC

Scientists and managers often use the term ‘stock’ referring to different entities which can cause a degree of confusion. ICES define stocks as a ‘part of a fish population usually with a particular migration pattern and specific spawning ground which are part of the same reproductive process’. Such biological stocks are largely self-contained with limited migration of individuals from or to the stock. Managers will often refer to the units of management as a stock (typically a TAC for a species within a specific sea area). However, the area definition for these units often has no scientific or biological basis, instead being borne from political processes or simply using ICES areas, sub-areas, divisions, or sub-divisions for convenience. Here we will refer to a stock as the units defined by ICES whilst the area-defined management units along with their ascribed TACs will be referred to as management units. It should be noted that there are some cases where the management units are identical to the biological stock area (meaning that there is a direct mapping from stock to management unit) but typically, there is some mismatch between the area definitions.

ICES advice types

ICES generates catch advice according to an established hierarchy reflecting the availability of data. There are two nested frameworks, the overarching PA framework and the subsidiary MSY framework. All MSY advice must satisfy the PA framework. The MSY framework is applied when data are sufficient to assess the current exploitation rate in relation to the theoretical optimum, while the data-limited rules of the PA framework are used in all other cases. Improvements in assessment methodology means that more stocks are now assessed under the MSY framework than in the previous report.

For further details on the ICES advisory process, read:

• 2022 ICES technical guidance for harvest control rules and stock assessments for stocks in categories 2 and 3

• 2023 ICES guide to advice

• 2012 ICES guidance for data limited stocks.

Outcome versus intention reporting

One of the primary objectives of fishery management in the UK is to prevent the collapse of stocks and the management framework with its reference points is designed to achieve this objective. It is entirely appropriate that the effectiveness of fishery management should therefore be measured in terms of how well these targets and objectives are met. This scoring of outcomes is retrospective but if we operated in a world of certainty then management actions would naturally achieve these objectives. In reality, fishery management operates in an uncertain paradigm where environmental variation, complex biological interactions, human decisions, and observation error combine meaning that management actions may not necessarily result in the desired outcome. Ideally, a management framework should be designed to be robust to these fluctuations and uncertainties but not everything can be foreseen, and outcomes may not be as intended. Historical outcome evaluation may vary as the understanding of stock development evolves. It is therefore also desirable to report on whether catch limits agreed by managers were consistent with the scientific understanding at that time.

In the longer term, chronic systematic differences between the intention and outcomes may indicate that the management framework needs to be modified to accommodate these differences. Both types of reporting (outcomes and intention) are therefore important tools for monitoring management performance. Outcome scoring is undertaken as part of the UK’s reporting on the Marine Strategy (due to be updated in 2025) and reports the number of stocks where the spawning biomass is estimated to be at or above the target reference point and the exploitation rate is estimated to be at or below the target reference point. In contrast, the scoring of negotiation decisions (intention scoring) is based on TAC decisions, so direct comparisons between these two scoring approaches cannot be made due to the mismatches of stock and TAC definitions.

MSY methodology review approach and considerations

The methodology review proposed an approach and method to assess the MSY consistency of TACs based on the comparison of ICES advice and stock assessment areas, and the TAC management areas. 6 categories of TACs were identified reflecting the increasing complexity of the mapping issues. Examples of these can be found in Sections 4.1 to 4.6 of the methodology review report (Nash and others, 2021).

1. Direct match: management area is the same as the stock assessment area.
2. Wide: management area wider than stock area but does not overlap with other defined stocks. These are effectively treated as a direct match.
3. Pooled: multiple stocks pooled into a single TAC, areas definitions matching.
4. Subset: single stock split into multiple TAC units.
5. Subset pooled: multiple stocks fished across multiple TAC units.
6. Fragmented: stocks or multiple stocks fished across multiple TAC units (TAC and advice areas do not match) and where substantial portions of catches are taken outside the jurisdiction of the relevant negotiation forum (bilateral UK-EU, trilateral UK-EU-Norway, or coastal states negotiations).

Note that mapping classification may change through time, particularly in the case of the fragmented class where the introduction of a sharing arrangement could see the classification re-elevated.

The methodology review agreed on an approach with an expert panel that is based on whether catch limits do not exceed the best available ICES scientific advice for stocks (biological areas or units) that are relevant to the management areas (or TAC units).

The agreed principles and considerations can be found in the methodological review report (Nash and others, 2021).

Assessment methodology

The principles agreed in the MSY methodology review (Nash and others, 2021) are used as the basis to assess whether negotiated catch limits agreed are consistent with the ICES scientific advice at that time. In addition to an explanation of the 2 stages of the assessment, this section describes issues that were not covered by the MSY methodology review but have subsequently been identified as requiring consideration.

Explanation of stage 1 and stage 2

Assessment of the TACs considered their alignment with the ICES advice and was performed in 2 stages and only those TACs which pass stage 2 are considered to have been set in line with the advice.

Stage 1

This stage assessed the TAC alignment with ICES scientific advice by considering the match between the TAC area and the relevant ICES’ advice stock assessment areas and whether the total catch limit was set at or below the scientific advice.

TACs with a management area that match to scientific advice assessment area and set at or below the scientific advice are given a stage 1 pass, and if no further considerations exist would be assigned a stage 2 pass.

Any TAC for which its total catch limit was set above the scientific advice failed stage 1, and therefore failed this year’s assessment.

Stage 2

TACs for which the ICES advice assessment area did not match the management area, and which passed stage 1 were subject to additional considerations, assessed in stage 2. Catch considerations are examined, in particular to determine whether the total international catches had exceeded ICES advice 2 or more times in the previous 3 years for which data were available. Where catches had habitually exceeded the advice, unless remedial measures to prevent this were included in the written records of the negotiation agreements, the TAC was considered to have failed at stage 2.

In the summary of evaluations that follow, only those TACs which pass stage 2 are considered to have been set in line with the advice and awarded a ‘pass’.

Consideration of quota transfers

For this assessment, the total catch limit agreed was considered as the total agreed TAC as negotiated in bilateral UK-EU, trilateral UK-EU-Norway, NEAFC and coastal states negotiating forums. In some instances, quota transfers for additional, specific species were agreed outside these forums. In these cases, additional quota transferred to the UK were added to the TAC to obtain the total catch limit agreed. Negotiations between the UK and the Faroe Islands were concluded and signed on 1 March 2024 but at the time of writing this report a signed copy of the agreement was not available to Cefas, so any quota transfers from the Faroe Islands to the UK have not been considered in this year’s assessment. Only quota transfers from Norway to the UK were considered, using the published written records of fisheries consultations between the UK and Norway.

Consideration of area-misalignment with negligible effects

The misalignment of ICES stock areas and TAC units is considerable, often whole ICES divisions. However, there are a number of cases where the misalignment of ICES stock boundaries and TAC areas is much less pronounced involving a few ICES statistical rectangles (or part rectangles) and the catches in these portions are considered to be relatively trivial. In these cases, although flagged as ‘fragmented’, no consideration is made of the exploitation of the neighbouring stock.  For example, the HAD/5BC6A TAC covers Division 6.a, and UK and international waters of Division 5.b. However, the area of sea covered by UK and international waters of Division 5.b is a small fraction of Division 5.b and catches in UK and international waters of Division 5.b are negligible in relation to the total international landings from Division 5.b.

Third-country catches

One issue that emerged during the MSY methodology review process was the need to consider catches from ICES stocks by countries not encompassed by the UK-EU, UK-EU-Norway or coastal states TAC-setting process (termed third-country catches). In an ideal situation, international agreements on all fishing opportunities for all stocks would be achieved, but in the absence of such agreements one science-based approach to this issue would be to quantify the portion of the ICES advised tonnage that is expected to be caught by the vessels of  third countries before determining what would be a sustainable level for the UK-EU/UK-EU-Norway/coastal states TACs. This could either be some projection of absolute tonnage, or an assumption that the proportion of third-country catches recorded over some recent historic period will continue into the future. Another alternative could be directly requesting that each third country provides their own estimates. A scientific exercise was undertaken to explore what the potential implications for UK-EU/UK-EU-Norway/coastal states TAC-setting might be when considering the effects of third-country catches. This scientific exercise requires further exploration to determine the most reliable approach to forecasting third-country catches and should be undertaken independently from negotiations around TACs or future sharing arrangements.

Table 2 contains a notation as to which TACs we currently believe this issue affects. Third-country catches were not considered in stage 1 of the current assessment method. For those TACs going through stage 2, total international landings (which include third country catches) are considered when assessing whether catches exceed the scientific advice.

Consultative elements

A number of TACs listed in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) are classed as ‘consultative’. This is where one party has an historical fishing interest, but the body of water referred to lies entirely (or to all practical extent entirely) in the jurisdiction of the other party. In these instances, the TACs will be set unilaterally by the party with jurisdiction. Several of these consultative TACs are linked to subset or pooled subset TACs of interest to the UK and therefore potentially affect the scoring of alignment with the ICES advice for TACs that form part of the baseline set. The process of scoring TACs resulting from the MSY methodology review process demands that we look at the totality of all TACs that draw on the stocks.

However, the publication of consultative elements has sometimes been many weeks after conclusion of negotiations, and it was therefore necessary to devise an approach that only used the published TACs. In these instances, the maximum advice-compliant TAC for the management unit of interest was defined as the advice multiplied by the proportion implied by the 2020 EU TAC and Quota Regulation (TQR). The 2020 TACs for a number of species already included a deduction for fleet sectors that had exemptions from the landing obligation. In these instances, the implied total catches for those TACs in 2020 were back calculated using the deduction calculations published by the EU Commission.

During the negotiations for the 2023 TACs, the tonnages to be set for the consultative elements were shared during the negotiations and therefore the scoring methods used these actual tonnages rather than the historic share method devised for the scoring of 2022 TACs.

Stocks with advice given for the first time since signing the TCA

Another issue not considered within the MSY methodology review was how assessment should operate where ICES provides advice for the first time. This could arise for a stock unit where advice had not previously been requested, where data improvements allow for advice to be generated or where ICES stock definitions change. For instance, four-spot megrim (ldb.27.7b-k8abd) received advice from ICES for the first time in 2021 (for catches in 2022).

As part of the ‘subset pooled’ category, catches for all contributing stocks should be compared to their advice for the most recent 3 years of concurrent advice and catch. In the current implementation, where a contributing stock cannot be assessed in this manner there is no stage 2 consideration made for that stock.

Alternative approaches could include either not scoring the TAC on the basis that there is insufficient evidence to suggest that catches are likely be no more than the advice, or to compare recent catch history with the new advice as a proxy for the concurrent catch-advice comparison.

Any future development of TAC assessment method for this situation has the potential to impact both retrospective and future scoring.

Determining the baseline suite of TACs

In order to facilitate direct comparison between the outcomes of different years it is desirable to have a consistent number of TACs. It is inevitable that some changes may occur through time as management units evolve and the baseline may require periodic revision, however no changes to the baseline have been made for this report.

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement lists 123 quotas which link to stocks in which both the UK and EU have an interest. The UK has access to 104 of these TACs. Only those TACs negotiated in bilateral UK-EU, trilateral UK-EU-Norway, NEAFC or coastal states forums are considered in scope for this report.

Five of the TACs listed in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement are not included in the scoring. Deep-sea sharks (TCA 19, DWS/56789-) is not included because these are a prohibited species (meaning that landing them is illegal). Porcupine Bank Nephrops (TCA 39, NEP/*07U16) is excluded because this is a sub-clause of the main Area 7 Nephrops TAC (TCA 40, NEP/07.) and would otherwise be double counting. North Sea sandeel sea (TCA 57, SAN/2A3A4), North Sea sprat (TCA 66, SPR/2AC4-C) and English Channel sprat (TCA 67, SPR/7DE.) are all agreed later during the fishing year and therefore are excluded from this assessment.

The trilateral UK-EU-Norway negotiation agrees 4 TACs for North Sea herring of which only the ‘A-fleet’ (the main human consumption fleet) and ‘B-fleet’ (bycatches) are relevant to the UK. The UK-EU portion of the A-fleet TAC is then split into 2 TCA quotas (TCA 80 and 81). As the negotiated agreement is at the A-fleet level, and ICES gives advice for the A-fleet, a single scoring is applied to the trilateral agreement and not the 2 TCA quotas. This same rationale of a single scoring applies to the TAC for North-East Atlantic mackerel which is agreed at the coastal states meetings with the UK-EU portion then split into 2 TACs (TCA 85 and 86).

The result of addressing the above issues means that there are 83 TACs that are considered, only 79 of which are included in the baseline due to 4 having no scientific advice at the time of this publication. The summary of evaluations is given as the percentage (%) of passes determined as the number of stage 2 passes divided by the number of TACs linked to scientific advice (79).

Table 2 lists the TACs that are evaluated along with their advice basis, mapping category, negotiation forum and inclusion in baseline applicable at the time of publication.

Assessment of negotiated outcomes for 2024

This evaluation of the negotiated outcomes for 2024 follows the principles set out in the MSY methodology review (Nash and others, 2021).

Table 1 provides the results of the assessment for 2024 and the pass and fail scores for stage 1 and stage 2. The basis of type 2 fails is categorised in the last column of the table as follows:

• there is a history of one or more of the stocks linked to the TAC being overfished, and the current management structure is unlikely to prevent overfishing (a ‘history of overfishing’ is where total international catches, including third-country catches, have exceeded the ICES advice 2 or more times in the most recent 3 years)
• there is no sharing agreement for the TAC in place, even if the TAC has been agreed within sustainable levels

Succinctly, type 2 fails represent those cases where either there is a history of exceeding ICES advice or sufficient management measures are not in place.

Table 3 gives the final evaluation per year for the suite of baseline TACs from 2020 to 2024. It summarises the outcome of this year and previous years’ assessments and provides a comparison of the negotiated outcomes over the last 5 years.

TACs outside the baseline are presented at the bottom of each table. 

For 2024 TACs were agreed in the UK-EU negotiations, trilateral negotiations between the UK, EU and Norway, and coastal states negotiations. Table 2 shows the 84 TACs that were agreed in total this year.

Scientific advice on catch opportunities provided by ICES related to 80 of these 84 TACs. The remaining 4 TACs came from combinations of species and TAC areas for which there was no scientific advice. One TAC (Porcupine Bank Nephrops) is not included in the baseline list for reasons explained in section 4, leaving 79 TACs to score.

Of the baseline list of 79 TACs, 36 were considered to be set in line with the scientific advice (46%), 2 could not be scored and 41 failed (52%). Breaking this down to the advice type (MSY or PA), 29 out of 56 TACs (52%) based on MSY advice were set in line with the advice and 7 out of 21 (33%) TACs based on PA advice were set in line with the advice.

The total number of baseline TACs passing the assessment has increased annually since 2021. There was an increase of 4 more baseline TACs passing the assessment between 2023 and 2024.

	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Total number of baseline TACs passing the assessment	27	26	27	32	36

TACs that have changed scores from 2023 to 2024

Twelve TACs saw their scores change between 2023 and 2024. A brief explanation is given for each change in assessment.

TCA 14 and 77 (COD/07D, Cod (Eastern Channel) and COD/2A3AX4, Cod (North Sea))

Change: pass to fail

The written record of UK-EU-Norway reports that the TAC for the Northern Shelf cod stock (31,301 tonnes) was set higher than the ICES advice (22,691 tonnes). These TACs are therefore classified as stage 1 fails.

In 2023 ICES revised the stock boundary merging what had historically been West of Scotland cod with North Sea cod to form a Northern Shelf stock, with 3 sub-stock components. There is no defined scientific approach for how the advice should be apportioned to the different TAC units, nor was there a political agreement on how this should be done. Therefore, for COD/5BE6A, COD/07D, COD/2A3AX4 and COD/03AN the scientific advice is currently ‘methodology in development’.

TCA 28 and TCA 29, (HKE/2AC4-C, Hake (North Sea) and HKE/571214, Hake (Western))

Change: fail to pass

HKE/2AC4-C and HKE/571214, along with HKE/03A and HKE/8ABDE are subset TACs formed from the hke.27.3a46-8abd stock. In 2023 although the total of the 3 TACs was set at ICES advice, there was also an additional quota transfer from Norway into the UK meaning the total available quota was in excess of ICES advice. For 2024 the sum of the 3 TACs was set at the level of ICES advice and no additional quota was transferred in from Norway in the record of fisheries consultation between the United Kingdom and Norway for 2024. The 2 UK-EU TACs in the baseline therefore receive a stage 1 pass with no requirement for stage 2 considerations due to the subset classification.

TCA 32 and 71, (L/W/2AC4-C, Lemon Sole and Witch (North Sea) and T/B/2AC4-C, Turbot and Brill (North Sea))

Change: fail to pass  

L/W/2AC4-C and T/B/2AC4-C TACs are both fragmented, each covering 2 species and covering only part of the stock areas for the species. Previously, L/W/2AC4-C failed at stage 2 because witch catches exceeded the advice more than twice in the previous 3 years. T/B/2AC4-C received a stage 1 fail in 2023 as the 2023 agreed TAC was set higher than the advice. However, following agreements in the Specialised Committee on Fisheries (SCF), ’of-which-no-more-than‘ clauses have been added to these quotas which, in combination with new TAC units for the portions of stock not covered by TAC and deductions for third country catches, created a framework to enable catches to be constrained within the advice.  The 2024 negotiations subsequently set all the associated TACs and ’of-which‘ clauses to be in line with the scientific advice and therefore qualify for a pass.

TCA 36, 37 and 38, (LIN/03A-C, Ling 3a, LIN/04-C., Ling (North Sea) and LIN/6X14, Ling (Western))

Change: fail to pass

Previously, LIN/03A-C, LIN/04-C and LIN/6X14 received a stage 1 pass and stage 2 fail because although the sum of the UK-EU TACs for 2023 were within ICES advice, total international catches for the stock (lin.27.346-91214) had exceeded ICES advice for 2 or more of the previous 3 years for which compiled data were available (2018 to 2020). The stage 2 check is required because the TACs are classified as fragmented due to substantial portions of the stock landings coming from jurisdictions beyond the UK-EU negotiations.

For 2024 the TACs have been set in line with the scientific advice, so therefore pass stage 1. In addition, catches of lin.27.346-91214 were below the ICES catch advice for the years 2020 and 2021 and therefore satisfy the stage 2 criterion of total international catches being below the advice for 2 or more years out of the most recent 3.

TCA 59 and 61, (SOL/07A, Sole (Irish Sea), SOL/07E, Sole (Western Channel))

Change: pass to fail

Both SOL/07A and SOL/07E are direct matches with ICES stock unit. ICES advice for both stocks was for zero catch in 2024. However, non-zero TACs were agreed for both and therefore these TACs are assessed to be a fail.

TCA 84, (WHG/2AC4, Whiting (North Sea))

Change: fail to pass

In 2023, WHG/2AC4. was scored as pooled subset and considered along with the WHG/7X7A-C TAC due to the placement of the 7d portion of the whg.27.47d stock into the WHG/7X7A-C TAC unit. This merging of part-stocks into a quota incorporated a substantial tonnage of fish nominally for the 7d component into the WHG/7X7A-C TAC however with no restriction on that tonnage being only for 7d the system effectively allowed the whg.27.7bce-k stock to be overfished. As a result both TACs were classed as fails.

For 2024 a system of ‘of-which-no-more-than‘ clauses were included in the WHG/7X7A-C TAC which prevents the tonnage incorporated for 7d to be subsequently fished in the 7bce-k area. This development effectively creates ring-fenced TACs for the whg.27.47d stock and allows the WHG/2AC4. to be classified as subset. For 2024 the sum of the WHG/2AC TAC and the ‘of-which‘ clause for the 7d component of the WHG/7X7A-C TAC is less than the advice for whg.27.47d therefore the WHG/2AC4 TAC is awarded a pass.

Rationale for stage 2 fails by TAC

Stage 2 considerations include a review of historic international catches compared to ICES advice. A stage 2 pass requires that catches have been at or less than the advice for 2 of the most recent 3 years for which data are available.

TCA 5 and 6 (ARU/1/2., Greater silver smelt 1,2 and ARU/3A4-C, Greater silver smelt North Sea)

ARU/1/2 and ARU/3A4-C are classed as fragmented therefore requiring stage 2 scoring. For the contributing stock aru.27.123a4, the past 3 years of available data (2020 to 2022) shows that catches have been higher than the corresponding ICES advice for all 3 years.

TCA 7 (ARU/567, Greater silver smelt (Western))

ARU/567 is a fragmented stock requiring stage 2 scoring. The contributing stocks are aru.27.5b6a and aru.27.6b7-1012. In 2020 and 2021 catches of aru.27.5b6a were higher than the advice. With 2 out of 3 years exceeding advice for one of the contributing stocks this fails at stage 2.

TCA 18 (DGS/15X14, Spurdog (Western))

There is no sharing agreement but historically has been exploited by a range of countries. Although the UK-EU TAC setting allowed for a certain level of third country catch, given the radically different advice level given for both 2023 and 2024 (compared to 2022), there are no data on which to base an estimate of whether this allowance is sufficient to keep total international catches below the level of the advice. Until such data are available this TAC will be scored as a fail.

TCA 34 and 35 (LEZ/2AC4-C, Megrims (North Sea) and LEZ/56-14, Megrims (West of Scotland))

LEZ/2AC4-C and LEZ/56-14 are pooled subset, the associated stocks are lez.27.4a6a and lez.27.6b. Although catches of lez.27.4a6a are consistently below ICES advice, the catches of lez.27.6b were above the advice in 2020 and 2021. With 2 out of 3 years exceeding advice for one of the contributing stocks this fails at stage 2.

TCA 40 (NEP/07, Nephrops (7))

NEP/07 is a pooled TAC covering 8 stocks. Catch data for nep.fu.17 and nep.fu.22 were above ICES advice for 2021 and 2022. Landings data for nep.27.7outFU were consistently above ICES advice for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022. With 2 out of 3 years seeing landings exceeding advice for at least of the contributing stocks this fails at stage 2.

TCA 41 (NEP/2AC4-C, Nephrops (North Sea))

NEP/2AC4-C is a pooled TAC covering 9 stocks. Catches were above ICES advice for nep.fu.6 in 2021 and 2022. Landings from nep.fu.33 and nep.fu.34 were above landings advice for each of the years 2019, 2020 and 2021 and for above advice for nep.27.7outFU in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

TCA 55 and 56, (RNG/5B67-, Roundnose Grenadier (Western) and RNG/8X14-, Roundnose Grenadier (8,9,10,12,14))

RNG/5B67- and RNG/8X14- are classed as fragmented, the associated stocks are rng.27.5b6712b, rng.27.5a10b12ac14b and rng.27.1245a8914ab. In 2022 and 2021 catches of rng.27.1245a8914ab were higher than ICES advice, resulting in a stage 2 fail.

TCA 68, 69 and 70, (SRX/07D, skates and rays (Eastern Channel), SRX/2AC4-C, skates and rays (North Sea) and SRX/67AKXD, (skates and rays (Western))

These TACs are comprised of several contributing stocks, one or more of which had catches which exceeded the advice 2 or more times in the past 3 years.

TCA 75 (WHG/56-14, Whiting (West of Scotland))

WHG/56-14 is a fragmented TAC, the associated stocks are whg.27.6a and whg.27.6b. For the years 2020 and 2021 there was 0 catch advice for whg.27.6a, and recorded catches exceeded this.

TCA 85 and 86, 87 and 96, (MAC/2A34., Mackerel (North Sea & Western), WHB/1X14, Blue Whiting (Northern) and HER/1/2-, Herring (ASH))

Although the TAC is agreed in coastal states negotiations, there is no sharing agreement and the contracting parties declare unilateral TACs which in total are in excess of the total TAC.

TCA 100 (RED/51214D, Redfish [Deep Pelagic] (5,12,14))

RED/51214D is a fragmented TAC. The associated stock is reb.2127.dp, this TAC receives a stage 2 fail as in 2018 and 2020 (the most recent 3-year period with catch data available on ICES advice sheet) the catches for each year exceeded the catch advice.

TCA 101 (RED/51214S, Redfish [Shallow Pelagic] (5,12,14))

RED/51214S is a fragmented TAC. The associated stock is reb.2127.sp, this TAC receives a stage 2 fail as in 2018 and 2020 (the most recent 3-year period with catch data available on the ICES advice sheet) the catches for each year exceeded the catch advice.

Table 1: Evaluation of the 2024 negotiated TACs

Rationales for a stage 2 fail are represented in the last column of table 1 by the following letters:

• ‘a’ means total international catches (which include third-country catches) of one or more of the stocks linked with the TAC setting process have exceeded ICES advice 2 or more times in the most recent 3 years for which ICES has published data
• ‘b’ means there is no sharing agreement in place even where TACs have been agreed

Type 2 fails represent those cases where either there is a history of exceeding ICES advice or sufficient management measures are not in place.

Table key:

• [TN] means the assessment uses the internationally agreed TAC from the Written Record of the tri-lateral negotiations. The UK-EU TAC codes listed may only form a subset of the total international TAC

• [CS] means the assessment uses the internationally agreed TAC from the Written Record of the Coastal States negotiations. The UK-EU TAC codes listed may only form a subset of the total international TAC

• [OB] means TACs which are outside the baseline suite of TACs

• [z] means ‘not applicable’

TCA number	TAC code	TAC name	Stage 1	Stage 2	Final	Stage 2 fail rationale
1	ALF/3X14-	Alfonsinos (3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,14)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
2	ANF/07.	Anglerfish (7)	pass	pass	pass	[z]
3	ANF/2AC4-C	Anglerfish (North Sea)	fail	[z]	fail	[z]
4	ANF/56-14	Anglerfish (West of Scotland)	fail	[z]	fail	[z]
5	ARU/1/2.	Greater silver smelt 1,2	pass	fail	fail	a
6	ARU/3A4-C	Greater silver smelt North sea	pass	fail	fail	a
7	ARU/567.	Greater Silver Smelt (Western)	pass	fail	fail	a
8	BLI/12INT-	Blue Ling (International 12)	fail	[z]	fail	[z]
9	BLI/24-	Blue Ling (North Sea)	fail	[z]	fail	[z]
10	BLI/5B67-	Blue Ling (Western)	pass	pass	pass	[z]
11	BOR/678-	Boarfish (Western)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
12	BSF/56712-	Black Scabbardfish (Western)	pass	pass	pass	[z]
13	COD/07A.	Cod (Irish Sea)	fail	[z]	fail	[z]
15	COD/5BE6A	Cod (West of Scotland)	fail	[z]	fail	[z]
16	COD/5W6-14	Rockall Cod	fail	[z]	fail	[z]
17	COD/7XAD34	Cod (Celtic Sea)	fail	[z]	fail	[z]
18	DGS/15X14	Spurdog (Western)	pass	fail	fail	b
20	HAD/07A.	Haddock (Irish Sea)	pass	pass	pass	[z]
22	HAD/6B1214	Haddock (Rockall)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
23	HAD/7X7A34	Haddock (Celtic Sea)	pass	pass	pass	[z]
24	HER/07A/MM	Herring (Irish Sea)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
25	HER/5B6ANB	Herring (West of Scotland)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
27	HER/7G-K.	Herring (Celtic Sea)	fail	[z]	fail	[z]
28	HKE/2AC4-C	Hake (North Sea)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
29	HKE/571214	Hake (Western)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
30	JAX/2A-14	Horse Mackerel (Western)	fail	[z]	fail	[z]
31	JAX/4BC7D	Horse Mackerel (Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
32	L/W/2AC4-C	Lemon Sole and Witch (North Sea)	pass	pass	pass	[z]
33	LEZ/07.	Megrims (7)	pass	pass	pass	[z]
34	LEZ/2AC4-C	Megrims (North Sea)	pass	fail	fail	a
35	LEZ/56-14	Megrims (West of Scotland)	pass	fail	fail	a
36	LIN/03A-C.	Ling 3a	pass	pass	pass	[z]
37	LIN/04-C.	Ling (North Sea)	pass	pass	pass	[z]
38	LIN/6X14.	Ling (Western)	pass	pass	pass	[z]
40	NEP/07.	Nephrops (7)	pass	fail	fail	a
41	NEP/2AC4-C	Nephrops (North Sea)	pass	fail	fail	a
42	NOP/2A3A4.	Norway Pout (North Sea)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
43	PLE/07A.	Plaice (Irish Sea)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
45	PLE/7DE.	Plaice (English Channel)	pass	pass	pass	[z]
46	PLE/7FG.	Plaice (7fg)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
47	PLE/7HJK.	Plaice (7hjk)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
50	POL/07.	Pollack (7)	fail	[z]	fail	[z]
51	POL/56-14	Pollack (West of Scotland)	fail	[z]	fail	[z]
52	PRA/2AC4-C	Northern Prawn (North Sea)	fail	[z]	fail	[z]
53	RJE/7FG.	Small-eyed Ray (7fg)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
54	RJU/7DE.	Undulate Ray (English Channel)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
55	RNG/5B67-	Roundnose Grenadier (Western)	pass	fail	fail	a
56	RNG/8X14-	Roundnose Grenadier (8,9,10,12,14)	pass	fail	fail	a
58	SBR/678-	Red Seabream (Western)	fail	[z]	fail	[z]
59	SOL/07A.	Sole (Irish Sea)	fail	[z]	fail	[z]
60	SOL/07D.	Sole (Eastern Channel)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
61	SOL/07E.	Sole (Western Channel)	fail	[z]	fail	[z]
62	SOL/24-C.	Sole (North Sea)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
64	SOL/7FG.	Sole (7fg)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
65	SOL/7HJK.	Sole (7hjk)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
68	SRX/07D.	Skates and Rays (Eastern Channel)	pass	fail	fail	a
69	SRX/2AC4-C	Skates and Rays (North Sea)	pass	fail	fail	a
70	SRX/67AKXD	Skates and Rays (Western)	pass	fail	fail	a
71	T/B/2AC4-C	Turbot and Brill (North Sea)	pass	pass	pass	[z]
72	USK/04-C.	Tusk (North Sea)	No analysis possible	No analysis possible	No analysis possible	[z]
73	USK/567EI.	Tusk (Western)	No analysis possible	No analysis possible	No analysis possible	[z]
74	WHG/07A.	Whiting (Irish Sea)	fail	[z]	fail	[z]
75	WHG/56-14	Whiting (West of Scotland)	pass	fail	fail	a
76	WHG/7X7A-C	Whiting (Celtic Sea)	fail	[z]	fail	[z]
14 [TN]	COD/07D.	Cod (Eastern Channel)	fail	[z]	fail	[z]
21 [TN]	HAD/5BC6A.	Haddock (West of Scotland)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
48 [TN]	POK/56-14	Saithe (West of Scotland)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
77 [TN]	COD/2A3AX4	Cod (North Sea)	fail	[z]	fail	[z]
78 [TN]	HAD/2AC4.	Haddock (North Sea)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
79 [TN]	North Sea Herring (B-Fleet): HER/2A47DX	Herring (North Sea bycatch)	fail	[z]	fail	[z]
80 and 81 [TN]	North Sea Herring (A-Fleet): HER/4AB. and HER/4CXB7D	A-fleet Herring (North Sea, Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel)	fail	[z]	fail	[z]
82 [TN]	PLE/2A3AX4	Plaice (North Sea)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
83 [TN]	POK/2C3A4	Saithe (North Sea)	pass	[z]	pass	[z]
84 [TN]	WHG/2AC4.	Whiting (North Sea)	pass	pass	pass	[z]
85 and 86 [CS]	Coastal States North-East Atlantic Mackerel: MAC/2A34. and MAC/2CX14-	Mackerel (North Sea and Western)	pass	fail	fail	b
87 [CS]	Coastal States North-East Atlantic Blue Whiting: WHB/1X14	Blue Whiting (Northern)	pass	fail	fail	b
96 [CS]	Coastal States Atlanto-Scandian Herring: HER/1/2-	Herring (ASH)	pass	fail	fail	b
100	RED/51214D	Redfish [Deep Pelagic] (5,12,14)	pass	fail	fail	a
101	RED/51214S	Redfish [Shallow Pelagic] (5,12,14)	pass	fail	fail	a
26 [OB]	HER/7EF.	Herring (Western Channel and Bristol Channel)	no advice	no advice	no advice	[z]
44 [OB]	PLE/56-14	Plaice (West of Scotland)	no advice	no advice	no advice	[z]
49 [OB]	POK/7/3411	Saithe (Celtic Sea)	no advice	no advice	no advice	[z]
63 [OB]	SOL/56-14	Sole (West of Scotland)	no advice	no advice	no advice	[z]

Table 2: TACs included in the scoring

The mapping category column follows the TAC mapping classification used in 2021:

• 1 = direct match
• 2 = wide
• 3 = pooled
• 4 = subset
• 5 = subset pooled
• 6 = fragmented

Advice type is classed as MSY or PA or management plan (MP).  Where advice is generated from a combination of MSY and PA sources, the classification is based on the stocks which provide the greatest tonnage to the advice.

Table key:

• [TN] means the assessment uses the internationally agreed TAC from the written record of the tri-lateral negotiations. The UK-EU TAC codes listed may only form a subset of the total international TAC

• [CS] means the assessment uses the internationally agreed TAC from the written record of the coastal states negotiations. The UK-EU TAC codes listed may only form a subset of the total international TAC

• [TCC] means TACs where catches by third countries are not always considered in the TAC setting process

• [SC] means Porcupine Bank Nephrops (NEP/*07U16) is a sub-clause of the main area 7 Nephrops TAC (NEP/07.) and is excluded from the assessment to avoid double-counting

• [z] means ‘not applicable’

• [c] means categorisation of combined advice - category assigned on the basis of the stock(s) which provides the greatest proportion of tonnage

TCA number	TAC code	TAC stock name	Principal advice type	Mapping category	Included in baseline suite of TACS?	Negotiation forum
1 [TCC]	ALF/3X14-	Alfonsinos (3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,14)	PA	2	Yes	UK-EU
2	ANF/07.	Anglerfish (7)	MSY	5	Yes	UK-EU
3 [TCC]	ANF/2AC4-C	Anglerfish (North Sea)	MSY	6	Yes	UK-EU
4 [TCC]	ANF/56-14	Anglerfish (West of Scotland)	MSY	6	Yes	UK-EU
5 [TCC]	ARU/1/2.	Greater silver smelt 1,2	PA	6	Yes	UK-EU
6 [TCC]	ARU/3A4-C	Greater silver smelt North Sea	PA	6	Yes	UK-EU
7 [TCC]	ARU/567.	Greater Silver Smelt (Western)	MSY	6	Yes	UK-EU
8 [TCC]	BLI/12INT-	Blue Ling (International 12)	PA	6	Yes	UK-EU
9 [TCC]	BLI/24-	Blue Ling (North Sea)	PA	6	Yes	UK-EU
10 [TCC]	BLI/5B67-	Blue Ling (Western)	MSY	6	Yes	UK-EU
11	BOR/678-	Boarfish (Western)	PA	1	Yes	UK-EU
12	BSF/56712-	Black Scabbardfish (Western)	PA	6	Yes	UK-EU
13	COD/07A.	Cod (Irish Sea)	MSY	5	Yes	UK-EU
15	COD/5BE6A	Cod (West of Scotland)	MSY	6	Yes	UK-EU
16 [TCC]	COD/5W6-14	Rockall Cod	PA	6	Yes	UK-EU
17	COD/7XAD34	Cod (Celtic Sea)	MSY	5	Yes	UK-EU
18	DGS/15X14	Spurdog (Western)	MSY	6	Yes	UK-EU
20	HAD/07A.	Haddock (Irish Sea)	MSY	5	Yes	UK-EU
22 [TCC]	HAD/6B1214	Haddock (Rockall)	MSY	2	Yes	UK-EU
23	HAD/7X7A34	Haddock (Celtic Sea)	MSY	5	Yes	UK-EU
24	HER/07A/MM	Herring (Irish Sea)	MSY	1	Yes	UK-EU
25	HER/5B6ANB	Herring (West of Scotland)	MSY	1	Yes	UK-EU
27	HER/7G-K.	Herring (Celtic Sea)	MSY	1	Yes	UK-EU
28 [TCC]	HKE/2AC4-C	Hake (North Sea)	MSY	4	Yes	UK-EU
29 [TCC]	HKE/571214	Hake (Western)	MSY	4	Yes	UK-EU
30 [TCC]	JAX/2A-14	Horse Mackerel (Western)	MSY	6	Yes	UK-EU
31	JAX/4BC7D	Horse Mackerel (Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel)	PA	1	Yes	UK-EU
32	L/W/2AC4-C	Lemon Sole and Witch (North Sea)	MSY	6	Yes	UK-EU
33	LEZ/07.	Megrims (7)	MSY[c]	5	Yes	UK-EU
34 [TCC]	LEZ/2AC4-C	Megrims (North Sea)	MSY	5	Yes	UK-EU
35 [TCC]	LEZ/56-14	Megrims (West of Scotland)	MSY	5	Yes	UK-EU
36 [TCC]	LIN/03A-C.	Ling 3a	PA	6	Yes	UK-EU
37 [TCC]	LIN/04-C.	Ling (North Sea)	PA	6	Yes	UK-EU
38 [TCC]	LIN/6X14.	Ling (Western)	PA	6	Yes	UK-EU
40	NEP/07.	Nephrops (7)	MSY[c]	3	Yes	UK-EU
41	NEP/2AC4-C	Nephrops (North Sea)	MSY[c]	3	Yes	UK-EU
42	NOP/2A3A4.	Norway Pout (North Sea)	MSY	4	Yes	UK-EU
43	PLE/07A.	Plaice (Irish Sea)	MSY	1	Yes	UK-EU
45	PLE/7DE.	Plaice (English Channel)	MSY	3	Yes	UK-EU
46	PLE/7FG.	Plaice (7fg)	MSY	1	Yes	UK-EU
47	PLE/7HJK.	Plaice (7hjk)	MSY	1	Yes	UK-EU
50	POL/07.	Pollack (7)	PA	6	Yes	UK-EU
51	POL/56-14	Pollack (West of Scotland)	PA	6	Yes	UK-EU
52	PRA/2AC4-C	Northern Prawn (North Sea)	PA	6	Yes	UK-EU
53	RJE/7FG.	Small-eyed Ray (7fg)	MSY	1	Yes	UK-EU
54	RJU/7DE.	Undulate Ray (English Channel)	MSY	1	Yes	UK-EU
55 [TCC]	RNG/5B67-	Roundnose Grenadier (Western)	PA	6	Yes	UK-EU
56 [TCC]	RNG/8X14-	Roundnose Grenadier (8,9,10,12,14)	PA	6	Yes	UK-EU
58	SBR/678-	Red Seabream (Western)	PA	1	Yes	UK-EU
59	SOL/07A.	Sole (Irish Sea)	MSY	1	Yes	UK-EU
60	SOL/07D.	Sole (Eastern Channel)	MSY	1	Yes	UK-EU
61	SOL/07E.	Sole (Western Channel)	MSY	1	Yes	UK-EU
62	SOL/24-C.	Sole (North Sea)	MSY	2	Yes	UK-EU
64	SOL/7FG.	Sole (7fg)	MSY	1	Yes	UK-EU
65	SOL/7HJK.	Sole (7hjk)	PA	1	Yes	UK-EU
68	SRX/07D.	Skates and Rays (Eastern Channel)	MSY[c]	6	Yes	UK-EU
69	SRX/2AC4-C	Skates and Rays (North Sea)	MSY[c]	6	Yes	UK-EU
70	SRX/67AKXD	Skates and Rays (Western)	MSY[c]	6	Yes	UK-EU
71	T/B/2AC4-C	Turbot and Brill (North Sea)	MSY	6	Yes	UK-EU
72 [TCC]	USK/04-C.	Tusk (North Sea)	PA	6	Yes	UK-EU
73 [TCC]	USK/567EI.	Tusk (Western)	PA	6	Yes	UK-EU
74	WHG/07A.	Whiting (Irish Sea)	MSY	5	Yes	UK-EU
75	WHG/56-14	Whiting (West of Scotland)	MSY[c]	6	Yes	UK-EU
76	WHG/7X7A-C	Whiting (Celtic Sea)	MSY	5	Yes	UK-EU
14 [TN]	COD/07D.	Cod (Eastern Channel)	MSY	6	Yes	UK-EU-NO
21 [TN]	HAD/5BC6A	Haddock (West of Scotland)	MSY	6	Yes	UK-EU-NO
48 [TN]	POK/56-14	Saithe (West of Scotland)	MSY	6	Yes	UK-EU-NO
77 [TN]	COD/2A3AX4	Cod (North Sea)	MSY	6	Yes	UK-EU-NO
78 [TN]	HAD/2AC4.	Haddock (North Sea)	MSY	6	Yes	UK-EU-NO
79 [TN]	North Sea Herring (B-Fleet): HER/2A47DX	Herring (North Sea bycatch)	MSY	6	Yes	UK-EU-NO
80 and 81 [TN]	North Sea Herring (A-Fleet): HER/4AB. and HER/4CXB7D	A-fleet Herring (North Sea, Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel)	MSY	6	Yes	UK-EU-NO
82 [TN]	PLE/2A3AX4	Plaice (North Sea)	MSY	4	Yes	UK-EU-NO
83 [TN]	POK/2C3A4	Saithe (North Sea)	MSY	6	Yes	UK-EU-NO
84 [TN]	WHG/2AC4.	Whiting (North Sea)	MSY	5	Yes	UK-EU-NO
85 and 86 [CS]	Coastal States North-East Atlantic Mackerel: MAC/2A34. and MAC/2CX14-	Mackerel (North Sea and Western)	MSY	6	Yes	Coastal states
87 [CS]	Coastal States North-East Atlantic Blue Whiting: WHB/1X14	Blue Whiting (Northern)	MP	6	Yes	Coastal states
96 [CS]	Coastal States Atlanto-Scandian Herring: HER/1/2-	Herring (ASH)	MP	6	Yes	Coastal states
100	RED/51214D	Redfish [Deep Pelagic] (5,12,14)	MSY	6	Yes	NEAFC
101	RED/51214S	Redfish [Shallow Pelagic] (5,12,14)	PA	6	Yes	NEAFC
26	HER/7EF.	Herring (Western Channel and Bristol Channel)	[z]	[z]	No	UK-EU
39 [SC]	NEP/07U16	Nephrops (Porcupine Bank)	MSY	1	No	UK-EU
44	PLE/56-14	Plaice (West of Scotland)	[z]	[z]	No	UK-EU
49	POK/7/3411	Saithe (Celtic Sea)	[z]	[z]	No	UK-EU
63	SOL/56-14	Sole (West of Scotland)	[z]	[z]	No	UK-EU

Comparison of results from 2020 to 2024

Table 3: Comparison of evaluation for the baseline TACs from 2020 to 2024

Table key:

• [NAP] means no analysis possible

• [TN] means the assessment uses the internationally agreed TAC from the Written Record of the tri-lateral negotiations. The UK-EU TAC codes listed may only form a subset of the total international TAC

• [CS] means the assessment uses the internationally agreed TAC from the Written Record of the Coastal States negotiations. The UK-EU TAC codes listed may only form a subset of the total international TAC

TCA number	TAC code	TAC name	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
1	ALF/3X14-	Alfonsinos (3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,14)	fail	pass	pass	pass	pass
2	ANF/07.	Anglerfish (7)	pass	pass	pass	pass	pass
3	ANF/2AC4-C	Anglerfish (North Sea)	pass	fail	fail	fail	fail
4	ANF/56-14	Anglerfish (West of Scotland)	pass	fail	fail	fail	fail
5	ARU/1/2.	Greater silver smelt 1,2	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
6	ARU/3A4-C	Greater silver smelt North sea	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
7	ARU/567.	Greater Silver Smelt (Western)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
8	BLI/12INT-	Blue Ling (International 12)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
9	BLI/24-	Blue Ling (North Sea)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
10	BLI/5B67-	Blue Ling (Western)	fail	pass	pass	pass	pass
11	BOR/678-	Boarfish (Western)	pass	pass	pass	pass	pass
12	BSF/56712-	Black Scabbardfish (Western)	fail	fail	fail	pass	pass
13	COD/07A.	Cod (Irish Sea)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
15	COD/5BE6A	Cod (West of Scotland)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
16	COD/5W6-14	Rockall Cod	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
17	COD/7XAD34	Cod (Celtic Sea)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
18	DGS/15X14	Spurdog (Western)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
20	HAD/07A.	Haddock (Irish Sea)	pass	pass	pass	pass	pass
22	HAD/6B1214	Haddock (Rockall)	pass	fail	pass	pass	pass
23	HAD/7X7A34	Haddock (Celtic Sea)	pass	pass	pass	pass	pass
24	HER/07A/MM	Herring (Irish Sea)	pass	pass	pass	pass	pass
25	HER/5B6ANB	Herring (West of Scotland)	fail	fail	fail	pass	pass
27	HER/7G-K.	Herring (Celtic Sea)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
28	HKE/2AC4-C	Hake (North Sea)	pass	pass	fail	fail	pass
29	HKE/571214	Hake (Western)	pass	pass	fail	fail	pass
30	JAX/2A-14	Horse Mackerel (Western)	pass	pass	pass	fail	fail
31	JAX/4BC7D	Horse Mackerel (Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel)	pass	pass	pass	pass	pass
32	L/W/2AC4-C	Lemon Sole and Witch (North Sea)	fail	fail	fail	fail	pass
33	LEZ/07.	Megrims (7)	pass	pass	pass	pass	pass
34	LEZ/2AC4-C	Megrims (North Sea)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
35	LEZ/56-14	Megrims (West of Scotland)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
36	LIN/03A-C.	Ling 3a	fail	fail	fail	fail	pass
37	LIN/04-C.	Ling (North Sea)	fail	fail	fail	fail	pass
38	LIN/6X14.	Ling (Western)	fail	fail	fail	fail	pass
40	NEP/07.	Nephrops (7)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
41	NEP/2AC4-C	Nephrops (North Sea)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
42	NOP/2A3A4.	Norway Pout (North Sea)	fail	fail	fail	pass	pass
43	PLE/07A.	Plaice (Irish Sea)	pass	pass	pass	pass	pass
45	PLE/7DE.	Plaice (English Channel)	pass	pass	pass	pass	pass
46	PLE/7FG.	Plaice (7fg)	pass	pass	pass	pass	pass
47	PLE/7HJK.	Plaice (7hjk)	fail	fail	pass	pass	pass
50	POL/07.	Pollack (7)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
51	POL/56-14	Pollack (West of Scotland)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
52	PRA/2AC4-C	Northern Prawn (North Sea)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
53	RJE/7FG.	Small-eyed Ray (7fg)	pass	pass	pass	pass	pass
54	RJU/7DE.	Undulate Ray (English Channel)	fail	fail	fail	pass	pass
55	RNG/5B67-	Roundnose Grenadier (Western)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
56	RNG/8X14-	Roundnose Grenadier (8,9,10,12,14)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
58	SBR/678-	Red Seabream (Western)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
59	SOL/07A.	Sole (Irish Sea)	pass	pass	pass	pass	fail
60	SOL/07D.	Sole (Eastern Channel)	pass	pass	pass	pass	pass
61	SOL/07E.	Sole (Western Channel)	pass	pass	pass	pass	fail
62	SOL/24-C.	Sole (North Sea)	pass	pass	pass	pass	pass
64	SOL/7FG.	Sole (7fg)	pass	pass	pass	pass	pass
65	SOL/7HJK.	Sole (7hjk)	fail	fail	pass	pass	pass
68	SRX/07D.	Skates and Rays (Eastern Channel)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
69	SRX/2AC4-C	Skates and Rays (North Sea)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
70	SRX/67AKXD	Skates and Rays (Western)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
71	T/B/2AC4-C	Turbot and Brill (North Sea)	fail	fail	fail	fail	pass
72	USK/04-C.	Tusk (North Sea)	[NAP]	[NAP]	[NAP]	[NAP]	[NAP]
73	USK/567EI.	Tusk (Western)	[NAP]	[NAP]	[NAP]	[NAP]	[NAP]
74	WHG/07A.	Whiting (Irish Sea)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
75	WHG/56-14	Whiting (West of Scotland)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
76	WHG/7X7A-C	Whiting (Celtic Sea)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
14 [TN]	COD/07D.	Cod (Eastern Channel)	fail	fail	fail	pass	fail
21 [TN]	HAD/5BC6A.	Haddock (West of Scotland)	pass	pass	pass	pass	pass
48 [TN]	POK/56-14	Saithe (West of Scotland)	pass	pass	pass	pass	pass
77 [TN]	COD/2A3AX4	Cod (North Sea)	fail	fail	fail	pass	fail
78 [TN]	HAD/2AC4.	Haddock (North Sea)	pass	pass	pass	pass	pass
79 [TN]	North Sea Herring (B-Fleet): HER/2A47DX	Herring (North Sea bycatch)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
80 and 81 [TN]	North Sea Herring (A-Fleet): HER/4AB. and HER/4CXB7D	A-fleet Herring (North Sea, Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
82 [TN]	PLE/2A3AX4	Plaice (North Sea)	pass	pass	pass	pass	pass
83 [TN]	POK/2C3A4	Saithe (North Sea)	pass	pass	pass	pass	pass
84 [TN]	WHG/2AC4.	Whiting (North Sea)	fail	fail	fail	fail	pass
85 and 86 [CS]	Coastal States North-East Atlantic Mackerel: MAC/2A34. and MAC/2CX14-	Mackerel (North Sea and Western)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
87 [CS]	Coastal States North-East Atlantic Blue Whiting: WHB/1X14	Blue Whiting (Northern)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
96 [CS]	Coastal States Atlanto-Scandian Herring: HER/1/2-	Herring (ASH)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
100	RED/51214D	Redfish [Deep Pelagic] (5,12,14)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail
101	RED/51214S	Redfish [Shallow Pelagic] (5,12,14)	fail	fail	fail	fail	fail

References

• Bell ED, Nash RMD, Garnacho E, De Oliveira J, O’Brien CM. 2022. Assessing the sustainability of fisheries catch limits negotiated by the UK for 2020 to 2022. Cefas project report. 38pp

• Defra. 2023. Environmental Improvement Plan 2023, First revision of the 25 Year Environment Plan. 262pp

• ICES. 2012. ICES Implementation of Advice for Data-limited Stocks in 2012 in its 2012 Advice. ICES CM 2012/ACOM 68. 42 pp

• ICES. 2016. ICES criteria for defining multi-annual plans as precautionary. ICES Technical Guidelines 2016, Book 12, section 12.4.10

• ICES. 2020. Guide to ICES advisory framework and principles. In Report of the ICES Advisory Committee, 2020. ICES Advice 2020, section 1.1

• Joint Fisheries Statement. 2022

• Nash RDM, Garnacho E, De Oliveira J, Bell ED, O’Brien CM. 2021. Methodology review to assess sustainable quota setting. Cefas project report. 43pp

• Official Nominal Catches 2006-2019. Version 15-10-2021

• Trade and Cooperation Agreement. 2020. Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the one part, and the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the other part Brussels and London, 30 December 2020

• TAC and Quota Regulation 2020

Acknowledgements

This publication was produced by the Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas). It was funded by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).