Norway, EU, UK agree on North Sea quotas, with haddock, herring emerging as the winners

Negotiators from Norway, the European and the UK struck an agreement on Friday for harvesting shared stocks in the North Sea, with mixed news for whitefish and pelagic species.

Officials agreed to lift the total allowable catch (TAC) for herring in the North Sea sharply next year, by 20 percent to 427,628 metric tons. The quota for whiting, meanwhile, was increased by 25 percent to 26,636 metric tons.

The picture for key whitefish species, however, is more complex.

While the haddock quota was lifted 5 percent to 44,924 metric tons, the quota for saithe was reduced by 24 percent to 44,950 metric tons, down from 59,512 metric tons last year.