The annual end of year UK-EU negotiations on fishing opportunities are never just about boats at sea. Their outcomes shape the entire Cornish seafood sector, and it is essential that scientists, managers and industry work together to secure sensible and pragmatic fishing opportunities for 2026 and beyond. The UK Fisheries Act was designed for exactly this purpose and must be applied properly.
Against that backdrop, the Cornish Fish Producers Organisation welcomes areas of genuine, evidence-based progress. Where industry and scientists have worked jointly and provided managers with clear solutions, outcomes have improved. Work on pollack, spurdog and sole shows what becomes possible when evidence is built from the ground up.
For pollack, improved management alignment across commercial and recreational sectors gives the stock the best chance to keep rebuilding, and after two years of severe constraint, the modest increases for the commercial fleet are welcome. On spurdog, long standing industry and science collaboration has delivered a more practical framework, a reduced overall TAC to manage the stock, but removal of the 100cm maximum size limit, allows for a much improved management of the fishery. Meanwhile, new genetic evidence confirming that sole in 7h and 7e are a single stock has enabled some flexibility for the fleet in the Western Channel. These examples make the point clearly, when industry participates in science and works closely with managers, real change follows.
However, the introduction of technical conservation measures within this year’s negotiations is very troubling. Zero TAC advice for cod, haddock and whiting remains a challenge in a mixed fishery, and the fishing industry is taking these issues seriously with current measures in place, many developed in partnership with CFPO members engaged in gear trials, as well as developing its own fisheries management plan on these stocks. However, with the EU proposing emergency technical measures for these species in the early stages of negotiations, which apparently blindsided the UK government, the final outcome leaves the UK with even stricter measures in its own waters, no meaningful consultation from UK Government and its own fleet, no co-design, no co-management and no clarity on whether equivalent measures will apply in EU waters. So much for regulatory autonomy. Bycatch TACs have been sharply reduced to match new technical conservation measures that will not take effect until later in 2026, creating an immediate misalignment between restrictions and practical impact. There has also been no consideration of the growing evidence on climate driven shifts in gadoid distribution. After another year in which the fleet routinely encountered warmer water species, from octopus to blue fin tuna, the Government response has been to take EU proposed emergency measures in UK waters and dramatic reductions in bycatch limits for fish that are plainly moving north in search of cooler water.
Alongside this, the EU’s efforts to build a track record on non TAC species in the Channel through weak and poorly monitored rules represent a clear attempt to convert opportunistic access into long term claims on UK resources. The UK cannot allow this to stand. It must demonstrate some of its independent coastal state status.
There are at least some more consistent decisions in the mix. The increases to bass limits for all gear types reflect the improving stock trend, particularly welcomed for the trawl fleet and the unavoidable bycatch they encounter with the growing stock. Yet with such significant decisions being made via these negotiations, it raises a bigger question, why maintain a bass fisheries management plan if none of the additional fishing opportunities secured will offer new opportunities to those without the ability to land bass. Where are the opportunities for the young fishermen trying to get on the ladder, or those encountering it as a genuine bycatch due to the stock growing and shifting with the climate. This sits uneasily with such a significant change in catch limits.
Looking ahead, the question of where the fishing industry should focus its energy to inform decision making is becoming increasingly blurred. After the EU reset and this year’s negotiations, international agreements are clearly taking precedence over the well intentioned, but increasingly weak domestic frameworks. Fisheries management plan dialogue has become hollow and decisions with major consequences are being taken without consultation or adherence to the principles set out in the Joint Fisheries Statement.
This is precisely why the Cornwall Fisheries Science Board must now become a central engine for change. The Board will provide the structure to design and deliver high quality scientific projects, generate a strong and trusted evidence base for Cornish fisheries and make full use of industry as the research rich resource it is. It will ensure that advice is clear, consistent and aligned with recognised international decision making processes. If Cornwall is to secure a sustainable and forward looking future for its fishing and seafood sector, this is where that work must be driven. The CFPO is committed to leading this effort with our members, scientific partners and government. It is then for the government to match that commitment and deliver credible management from a transparent process aligning with the UK Fisheries Act, whether domestic or international decisions are being made.
