ICES recommends the total catch of North Sea herirng in 2026 should not exceed 287,772 tonnes.
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The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has advised a 30% cut in the 2026 fishing quota for North Sea herring, recommending that the total catch should not exceed 287,772 tonnes. This represents the lowest quota advice issued by the scientific organization since 2011, and a significantly lower limit from the 410,707 tonnes recommended in 2025.
“The decline is due to a reduction in the spawning stock of North Sea herring, along with changes to the reference points used for providing advice,” said Cecilie Kvamme, researcher and fish stock specialist at Norway's Institute of Marine Research, in a news release.
Kvamme explained that the management rules for North Sea herring were evaluated during 2024–2025. “Researchers found that the old estimates were not sufficiently precautionary,” she said. As a result, the reference point for fishing pressure (FMSY) was revised downward from 0.32 to 0.23.
“The low recommendation is primarily due to the downward adjustment of FMSY, but also very poor recruitment in recent years,” she added, meaning that very few juvenile fish survive to join the adult population.
North Sea herring is a key fish stock for a variety of nations, with 2025 quotas shared among the three principal players: Norway (112,677 tonnes), the United Kingdom (75,345 tonnes), and the European Union, which held the largest share at around 222,685 tonnes, distributed among member states such as the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and France. Norway's current share represents approximately 29% of the total quota.
The fishing quota allocations are set annually through trilateral negotiations between Norway, the UK and the EU, and based on scientific assessments to ensure the long-term sustainability of the stock. The trilateral quota agreement for 2025 was reached in early December 2024. At that time, Norwegian authorities said that the three negotiating parties planned to meet again to discuss new approaches to managing North Sea herring stocks, "where the aim is to end up with one total quota which is distributed between the parties".
A recent study by Norway's Institute of Marine Research has suggested that current North Sea herring management approaches fail to take into account the actual migration patterns of various herring populations, potentially leading to serious consequences for the species.
