Scottish mackerel fishermen and processors slam catch advice for 2026
Scotland’s pelagic fishermen have reacted angrily and with incredulity to catch advice for mackerel published today by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).
Ian Gatt, chief executive of the Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association (SPFA), said: “The headline recommendation of a 70% reduction in Total Allowable Catch in 2026 compared with this year is presented as ‘the best available science’. It may be based on science, but its conclusion is a hammer blow to the industry because of bad assumptions and frankly guesswork.
“It seems that absurdly cautious assumptions have prevailed over hard evidence. ICES advice has been highly variable in the past few years and we understand that this year it reflects an arbitrary choice of a recruitment period into the fishery. It is unacceptable that the viability of our industry should be jeopardised by an ICES best guess decision plugged into a computer model. In short, the same science with better assumptions would lead to a much better outcome for our industry.”
Richard Williamson, the Shetland-based second skipper of the LK62 Research and chair of the SPFA, pointed out that the new advice bore no resemblance to what he and other fishermen were seeing right across the mackerel fishing grounds in the Northeast Atlantic. “We don’t disagree that the stock is not as high as it was back in 2015-16, for example, but we believe that the stock is in better shape than it was two years ago.
“We wouldn’t disagree either that a comprehensive, long-term sharing arrangement binding all players in the international mackerel fishery, based largely on zonal attachment combined with a long-term management plan for this important stock, is long overdue.
“Fishermen are custodians of the sea. We have no interest whatsoever in demanding excessive quotas that would end up crippling our businesses and the communities that depend on them. That is why we have objected to ICES advice in the past when we felt it was too high, as we did when the ICES advice for North Sea herring was increased by 32% in 2024, for example.”
For the Shetland Fishermen’s Association, Simon Collins pointed out that the pelagic fishing fleet had itself become a major and credible contributor to hard scientific data in recent years.
He said: “We believe in scientific guidance on catch limits when it is backed with real data and a rigorous scientific process. We utterly reject this new approach by ICES, in which reckless guesswork and fag-packet choices in analysing serious data result in recommendations that threaten a critical part of the UK’s fishing fleet and all the onshore businesses that depend on it. This is not how any scientific institution should conduct itself.”
Mackerel quota cut would have devastating impact on Scottish processing sector
The advice published today by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) recommending a 70% cut in the north-east Atlantic mackerel Total Allowable Catch for next year would have a devastating impact on the Scottish mackerel processing sector if implemented, according to the Scottish Pelagic Processors’ Association (SPPA).
The mackerel processing industry in Scotland employs around 2,500 people, mainly in Peterhead, Fraserburgh and Lerwick, and jobs would be put in jeopardy if such a draconian cut were implemented, said Robert Duthie, chairman of the SPPA.
“As well as the direct employment, there are many other support jobs dependent upon mackerel, including in logistics, packaging, engineering and port services. Such a huge cut in quota would potentially have a devastating impact.
“Furthermore, there is a healthy domestic market for canned and smoked mackerel, and it is also a major export product, including to premium markets in Asia, which would also be put at risk.”
He added: “The advice from ICES is using a revised methodology on how much young fish enter the spawning stock biomass which is an arbitrary figure and we are certain doesn’t reflect the true situation of the mackerel stock and adopts a ‘worst-case’ scenario.
“There are, of course, ongoing issues with mackerel management that need resolved, most notably the failure of coastal states to reach a comprehensive international agreement, which is something both UK catchers and processors have long been calling for. But despite this, the catch advice by ICES is unnecessarily harsh and is based on doubtful science. We urge for a common-sense approach when it comes to deciding upon the final quota allocations for 2026.”
