Fishermen allowed to catch three times as much sole as last year

Dutch fishermen will be allowed to catch almost three times as much sole in the North Sea next year as they did in 2024. This change follows a new catch advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). Secretary Geert Meun of the cutter fishermen's organization VisNed calls it "good news," especially since the quota for sole had been significantly reduced in recent years.

This advice is usually adopted by the authorities in Brussels and London. According to Meun, the increase is so high because ICES researchers have revised their method for estimating the sole stock. This has revealed that the tongue is doing better than initially thought.

Earlier this week, there was already good hope that Dutch fishermen would soon be allowed to catch more soles than previously agreed upon within the European fishing quota. Outgoing Minister of Fisheries Piet Adema had received a promise from European Commissioner of Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius that if the United Kingdom has a new government, a European delegation will go to London as soon as possible for new negotiations on the quota.

Meun points out that according to Adema the quota could possibly even be increased for the current year 2024. That would be a boost for the 35 remaining Dutch cutters. Due to reduced fishing quotas, high fuel prices and the ban on pulse fishing, many fishermen have stopped catching soles in recent years. According to Meun, the Netherlands had around 180 cutters at the beginning of this century.

If the quotas are increased, consumers will probably notice this too. The price of sole could then drop somewhat. However, it will mainly be sole eaters in other countries who will benefit from this. According to Meun, most soles caught by Dutch fishermen are exported, especially to Southern Europe.

New catch recommendations have also been presented for other fish species. ICES researchers also see room for an increase in quotas for plaice, turbot, and brill. For herring, however, a reduction is proposed because relatively few young herring have been added to the North Sea in recent years.