The European Union fisheries angrily denounces the "tuna agreement of the four countries" and calls for trade countermeasures.

The EU fishing industry condemned the agreement as "rewarding years of overfishing" and will further exacerbate the already severe crisis in the EU's distant-water fishing industry. Tim Heddema, a spokesperson for the EU's distant-water fishing industry, said, "We are in the midst of a profound crisis. It is distressing that, despite the EU still holding the presidency of the tuna negotiations, it has been excluded from substantive talks." According to the latest scientific recommendations from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the catch of tuna in the Northeast Atlantic should not exceed 174,357 tons in 2026, a significant reduction of 70% from the 2025 guideline (576,958 tons). However, the quotas in the four-country agreement far exceed the scientific limits. The EU has stated that it will limit its catch to 156,921 tons in the first half of 2026 to strictly adhere to the scientific recommendations. Heddema questioned whether the UK's ...