The advice on fish stocks, including Pollack, published by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), forms the basis of the scientific advice used by the European Commission in setting out Total Allowable Catches and recreational fishing bag limits for the stock.
The European Commission has sole competence to negotiate with Third Countries, including the UK, on behalf of the EU in the setting of fishing opportunities. The bilateral consultations with the UK on setting fishing opportunities for shared fish stocks took place last Autumn.
Ahead of this, the Council set down the Commission's mandate for these negotiations. Ireland inputted into the development of this mandate and throughout the negotiation process, in order to raise our concerns and priorities. However, conservation measures are informed by the scientific advice provided by ICES which indicates that recreational catches account for a significant portion of the fishing mortality for this stock.
Given the impact of recreational catches on this stock, management measures for recreational fishing were agreed at the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council Meeting in December 2025, with a mandatory maximum of 3 specimen of pollack to be caught and retained per fisher per day. This measure will apply to both EU and UK fishers without exemption.
I fully recognise the importance and contribution of charter angling businesses. During engagement with the EU, Ireland did, inter alia, raise the potential impact of recreational bag limit restrictions on the tourism/charter boat sector and the concerns of this important sector. In fact, the initial EU position proposed regarding pollack were significantly more restrictive regarding the bag limit and potential seasonal closures. The final negotiated and agreed position is more favourable, notwithstanding the impact these measures may have on the charter angling sector.
