Total Allowable Catches (TACs)

Within the European Union, fisheries are managed through the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) which includes a system of Total Allowable Catches (TACs).

These are established by regulation each year for most stocks in the waters around Ireland. TACs are negotiated at the Council of Ministers meeting each December in Brussels. Member States are then allocated a proportion of TACs which become the national quota. For full details of the most recent Total Allowable Catches (TAC) and quotas please see the European Commission website. 

TACs are based on advice from the Advisory Committee (ACOM) of ICES. ACOM provides management advice based on the current status of the stocks. This is determined using stock assessments.

They are also arrived at using economic considerations through STECF (the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries).

The process by which TACs are determined is shown below.