Urgent actions to ensure 2026 fishing opportunities and scientific advice to underpin future decisions fully reflect EU legal requirements and policy objectives

A coalition of organizations, led by ClientEarth, calls on Commissioner Kadis to ensure that the renewal of the Specific Grant Agreement and Framework Partnership Agreement with ICES results in scientific advice that is recovery-focused, precautionary, and ecosystem-based. The authors argue that current advice is not designed to rebuild populations or safeguard wider ocean health, citing declines in stocks like mackerel and Northern Shelf cod. They propose five key actions, including extending rebuilding advice beyond the Baltic Sea, setting 2026 fishing limits below ICES headline advice by default, and increasing stakeholder consultation.

• The current scientific advice on fishing opportunities is deficient because it is not explicitly designed to rebuild fish populations, maintain a sufficient level of precaution across relevant timescales and beyond single-stock perspectives, or protect broader ecosystem health.
• Major commercial fish populations have seen drastic declines across various negotiation fora, specifically mentioning mackerel, Northern Shelf cod, Celtic Sea haddock and pollack, Skagerrak and Kattegat sole, and most Baltic stocks.
• The authors recommend that the European Commission take five specific actions: extend rebuilding advice to all stocks below sustainable levels, ensure ICES/EU agreements focus on recovery and Good Environmental Status (GES), set 2026 fishing opportunities below current ICES headline advice, commit to a roadmap for Management Strategy Evaluations (MSEs), and increase stakeholder consultation.

APA

ClientEarth (2025). Urgent actions to ensure 2026 fishing opportunities and scientific advice to underpin future decisions fully reflect EU legal requirements and policy objectives. https://www.clientearth.org/media/02ahx2mk/251209-follow-up-letter-to-commissioner-kadis-on-ices-scientific-advice-final.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Urgent actions to ensure 2026 fishing opportunities and scientific advice to underpin future decisions fully reflect EU legal requirements and policy objectives. 2025. https://www.clientearth.org/media/02ahx2mk/251209-follow-up-letter-to-commissioner-kadis-on-ices-scientific-advice-final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=Urgent actions to ensure 2026 fishing opportunities and scientific advice to underpin future decisions fully reflect EU legal requirements and policy objectives |date=9 December 2025 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/02ahx2mk/251209-follow-up-letter-to-commissioner-kadis-on-ices-scientific-advice-final.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearth2025urgent, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Urgent actions to ensure 2026 fishing opportunities and scientific advice to underpin future decisions fully reflect EU legal requirements and policy objectives}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, year = {2025}, month = dec, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/02ahx2mk/251209-follow-up-letter-to-commissioner-kadis-on-ices-scientific-advice-final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }