FISHING licence allocations are set to change for 2027 after remaining frozen for the past three years, the Fisheries Committee heard on Wednesday.
Presenting the department’s licensing advice, Head of Science Dr Andreas Winter said vessel unit (VU) allocations, which determine the amount of fishing effort available under each licence, had been held at 2024 levels for 2025 and 2026 after the previous method of calculating them became distorted by changes in non-permitted bycatch. The department is now proposing to resume annual adjustments based on changes in Total Allowable Catches (TACs).
Under the proposals, A licence allocations will fall slightly from 22.83 to 22.76 vessel units – the equivalent of around four and a half fishing days across the fleet. A small increase in hake TAC has been offset by reductions in most other finfish species, resulting in the overall decrease.
G licence allocations will increase from 10.14 to 10.65 vessel units, mainly because of a higher TAC for Illex squid. The committee paper notes that because Illex has a one-year lifespan, its numbers can vary considerably from year to year, making G licence allocations more variable.
W licence allocations will decrease from 6.07 to 5.61 vessel units after lower TACs were recommended for all permitted species except rock cod.
The committee paper notes that most of those species are showing declining TACs and that the downward trend is likely to continue.
Despite the changes, the committee paper notes that all three licence categories – A, G and W – would still have higher allocations of fishing days in 2027 than were actually fished in 2025
