Many fish stocks in the North Sea are currently managed cooperatively between Norway and the EU. As those fish stocks are found in UK, EU and Norwegian waters, there will need to be arrangements in place for fishing cooperation between the UK, the EU and Norway as of 1 January 2021. The Government acknowledges the need for trilateral fisheries management between the UK, EU and Norway. The Government has no current plans to negotiate a new trilateral fisheries framework, as it wishes to establish new bilateral relationships first. It notes that annual negotiations on TACs can take place in the absence of a framework agreement.
We wrote to the Minister to clarify why bilateral fishing agreements with Norway and with the EU are necessary if the ultimate goal is a trilateral agreement that covers fishing in all three Parties’ waters. We also asked for their view of the added benefits of a framework agreement and how quickly they will seek to reach a trilateral agreement after the bilateral agreements have been established.
Correspondence on this issue has now been closed.