Setting Total Allowable Catches (TACs) in the context of the Landing Obligation

The document warns that basing Total Allowable Catches (TACs) on total catch advice leads to overfishing when the Landing Obligation (LO) is not followed. It proposes three solutions: strict enforcement via Remote Electronic Monitoring, setting TACs below advised levels to account for illegal discards, or making quota top-ups conditional on proven compliance.

• The current practice of the European Commission and Council to base Total Allowable Catches (TACs) on total catch advice assumes full compliance with the Landing Obligation (LO), but this approach risks overfishing if illegal discards continue.
• In cases of non-compliance, actual catches can significantly exceed scientifically advised levels; for example, using a discard rate of 50% typical for Irish Sea plaice, actual catches could exceed the agreed TAC by up to 100% if no compliance occurs.
• To ensure sustainable catch levels, the document recommends three options: enforcing the LO through tools like Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM), setting TACs below advised levels to offset illegal discards, or making access to 'quota top-ups' conditional on demonstrated compliance.

APA

ClientEarth (2020). Setting Total Allowable Catches (TACs) in the context of the Landing Obligation. https://www.clientearth.org/media/0mfjqeah/2020-07-30-setting-total-allowable-catches-tacs-in-the-context-of-the-landing-obligation-ce-en.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Setting Total Allowable Catches (TACs) in the context of the Landing Obligation. 2020. https://www.clientearth.org/media/0mfjqeah/2020-07-30-setting-total-allowable-catches-tacs-in-the-context-of-the-landing-obligation-ce-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=Setting Total Allowable Catches (TACs) in the context of the Landing Obligation |date=July 2020 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/0mfjqeah/2020-07-30-setting-total-allowable-catches-tacs-in-the-context-of-the-landing-obligation-ce-en.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearth2020setting, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Setting Total Allowable Catches (TACs) in the context of the Landing Obligation}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, year = {2020}, month = jul, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/0mfjqeah/2020-07-30-setting-total-allowable-catches-tacs-in-the-context-of-the-landing-obligation-ce-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }