EU proposes 2027 Atlantic cuts for sole, hake and red seabream

The European Commission on Nov. 5, 2026, proposed 2027 fishing opportunities for 11 EU-managed stocks in the Atlantic, Kattegat and Skagerrak, with multi-year limits for some stocks through 2028 or 2029. The package follows ICES advice and heads to EU fisheries ministers at the AGRIFISH Council on Dec. 14–15, with final rules meant to apply Jan. 1, 2027.

Where science shows stocks below healthy levels, the Commission proposed cuts: 15 percent for sole in the Bay of Biscay, 20 percent for southern hake in Iberian waters, and 35 percent for red seabream in Iberian waters. Iberian anglerfish would rise 22 percent and horse mackerel 6 percent. Plaice in the Kattegat and undulate ray in the Bay of Biscay and Iberian waters would roll over.

Eel measures would stay in place, including a six-month closure for any eel fishing and a ban on recreational eel fishing in EU marine and brackish waters of the northeast Atlantic. France and Spain would keep setting Bay of Biscay seabass quotas under a 3,884-tonne ceiling, and France, Spain and Portugal could set national quotas for Iberian seabass and for sardines in the Bay of Biscay and Iberian waters if they jointly stay inside scientific limits.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: European Commission proposal coverage via Insight EU / Brussels Times (Nov. 5, 2026; Commission text). Also: The Brussels Times — EU proposes sharp reductions in catches for vulnerable fish stocks by 2027 (Nov. 5, 2026).

Photo: Brussels Times.