Taking stock 2022 – are TACs set to achieve MSY?

The report evaluates the alignment of Total Allowable Catches (TACs) with scientific advice in the EU and UK from 2015 to 2022. While some progress is noted, the report finds that overfishing was not ended by the 2020 deadline, with one third of assessed TACs still exceeding scientific advice in 2022. It highlights specific failures regarding data-limited stocks and identifies a mixed record for the UK, which has improved transparency and ecosystem considerations for forage fish but continues to push for unsustainable bycatch rollovers and inter-area flexibility in the West of Scotland.

• Progress in setting TACs according to scientific advice continued through 2021 and 2022 across most metrics, but remains insufficient, as one third of assessed TACs for 2022 still exceeded the advice.
• The EU and UK have consistently failed to follow scientific advice for data-limited stocks that require precautionary measures, despite the legal requirement for MSY to apply to all harvested stocks.
• The UK improved transparency by including NGOs in its 2021 EU/UK TAC negotiation delegation, though access to actual negotiation documentation remains very limited and the operation of the TCA's Specialised Committee on Fisheries is unclear.
• The UK has shown environmental progress by considering ecosystem needs, such as seabird food supply for sandeel TACs, but has also advocated for unsustainable bycatch TAC rollovers for stocks with zero-catch advice and increased inter-area flexibility in the West of Scotland, risking stocks like West of Scotland cod.
• EU decision-makers, including the UK during the relevant period, did not meet the 2020 deadline to end overfishing.

APA

ClientEarth (2022). Taking stock 2022 – are TACs set to achieve MSY? https://www.clientearth.org/latest/documents/taking-stock-2022-are-tacs-set-to-achieve-msy/

Chicago

ClientEarth. Taking stock 2022 – are TACs set to achieve MSY? 2022. https://www.clientearth.org/latest/documents/taking-stock-2022-are-tacs-set-to-achieve-msy/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=ClientEarth |title=Taking stock 2022 – are TACs set to achieve MSY? |date=12 October 2022 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/latest/documents/taking-stock-2022-are-tacs-set-to-achieve-msy/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clientearth2022taking, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Taking stock 2022 – are TACs set to achieve MSY?}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2022}, month = oct, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/latest/documents/taking-stock-2022-are-tacs-set-to-achieve-msy/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }