Taking Stock 2020: Are TACs set to achieve MSY?

The report finds that the EU failed to meet its 2020 deadline to end overfishing, with over half of the assessed TACs for 2019 still exceeding scientific advice. It highlights a particular lack of consistency in following advice for data-limited stocks and identifies several Member States that actively pushed for unsustainable catch limits, while noting that all involved states benefited from TACs exceeding scientific recommendations.

• Progress toward aligning Total Allowable Catches (TACs) with scientific advice since 2015 has been very limited, and more than 50% of the assessed TACs for 2019 still exceeded that advice.
• The Council and Commission have shown less consistency in following scientific advice for data-limited stocks that are subject to precautionary advice rather than Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY)-based advice, despite the CFP's MSY objective applying to all harvested stocks.
• While France, Ireland, Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Belgium, and Denmark were more vocal in requesting TACs higher than scientific advice during 2016-2018 Council processes, all Member States—including the quieter Netherlands, Germany, and Sweden—received shares of TACs that exceeded scientific advice.
• EU decision-makers did not meet the 2020 deadline to end overfishing, and the report's recommendations are considered relevant for ongoing negotiations between the EU and the UK regarding shared stocks.

APA

ClientEarth (2025). Taking Stock 2020: Are TACs set to achieve MSY? https://www.clientearth.org/latest/documents/taking-stock-2020-are-tacs-set-to-achieve-msy/

Chicago

ClientEarth. Taking Stock 2020: Are TACs set to achieve MSY? 2025. https://www.clientearth.org/latest/documents/taking-stock-2020-are-tacs-set-to-achieve-msy/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=ClientEarth |title=Taking Stock 2020: Are TACs set to achieve MSY? |date=27 March 2025 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/latest/documents/taking-stock-2020-are-tacs-set-to-achieve-msy/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clientearth2025taking, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Taking Stock 2020: Are TACs set to achieve MSY?}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2025}, month = mar, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/latest/documents/taking-stock-2020-are-tacs-set-to-achieve-msy/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }