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The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) decreased its recommendations for total allowable catches (TAC) in the Northeast Atlantic mackerel fishery by 8 percent in 2021, while increasing that for Northeast Atlantic herring by 24 percent.

The quota for Northeast Atlantic spring-spawn should not exceed 651,033 metric tons in 2021, ICES advised, but the figure, if approved, would be a massive jump for what is the world's single largest herring stock.

The spawning stock for herring is estimated to be 3.5 million metric tons in 2021.

The fishery, also called the Norwegian spring-spawning herring or Atlanto-Scandian herring, is a contentious one, with several countries at odds over who has the right to harvest it.

The slightly lower recommended quota for mackerel should not exceed 852,284 metric tons in 2021, ICES advised. That stock is still in good condition, according to Norway's Institute of Marine Research, with a spawning stock expected to reach 3.6 million metric tons in 2021.

The Northeast Atlantic mackerel fishery remains stripped of its Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification following a recent re-assessment of the fishery.

Certification groups determined after an expedited audit that the fishery failed on key scoring indicators against the MSC standards in September 2019.

ICES decreased advice on the blue whiting quota 20 percent in 2021 to 929,292 metric tons.

The countries fishing mackerel have not agreed on the distribution of quota 2020. Individual countries' own quotas added up to 1,090,879 metric tons in 2020, which was more than the researchers' recommendations.

The same applied for herring, where individual countries' own quotas added up to 693,915 metric tons.

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