Recommendations for the Commission's communication on fishing opportunities for 2019 and report under CFP Article 50

ClientEarth urges the European Commission to enhance its reporting on fish stocks and Total Allowable Catches (TACs) to ensure progress toward maximum sustainable yield (MSY) is accurately tracked. Key recommendations include extending reporting to all harvested stocks using proxies where necessary, reporting on biomass and long-term trends, and ensuring that indicators comparing TACs to scientific advice are clearly referenced and calculated by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF).

• The European Commission should expand its reporting to encompass all harvested stocks subject to the MSY objective, utilizing appropriate proxies for stocks lacking full MSY-based assessments. Reporting should cover not only fishing mortality and safe biological limits but also biomass relative to reference points.
• In instances where MSY estimates are unavailable, the Commission is advised to report progress using other reference points, such as the lowest time-series value or precautionary and limit reference points from ICES scientific advice.
• ClientEarth recommends that the Commission be more explicit regarding the indicators used to represent data and that these indicators be calculated by STECF and clearly referenced to avoid misleading interpretations.
• The Commission should present both long-term trends and recent changes rather than selectively using information to create an overly positive outlook.
• ClientEarth supports the Commission's request for STECF to develop indicators comparing scientific advice to initial proposals and final agreed TACs, but urges the Commission to provide detailed input ahead of the October 2018 STECF EWG meeting to address mismatches between TAC areas and scientific advice areas.

APA

ClientEarth (2018). Recommendations for the Commission's communication on fishing opportunities for 2019 and report under CFP Article 50. https://www.clientearth.org/media/zhxd3oyu/clientearth-letter-to-commission-regarding-recommendations-for-the-commissions-communication-on-fishing-opportunities-for-2019-and-report-under-cfp-article-50-ce-en.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Recommendations for the Commission's communication on fishing opportunities for 2019 and report under CFP Article 50. 2018. https://www.clientearth.org/media/zhxd3oyu/clientearth-letter-to-commission-regarding-recommendations-for-the-commissions-communication-on-fishing-opportunities-for-2019-and-report-under-cfp-article-50-ce-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=Recommendations for the Commission's communication on fishing opportunities for 2019 and report under CFP Article 50 |date=24 April 2018 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/zhxd3oyu/clientearth-letter-to-commission-regarding-recommendations-for-the-commissions-communication-on-fishing-opportunities-for-2019-and-report-under-cfp-article-50-ce-en.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearth2018recommendations, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Recommendations for the Commission's communication on fishing opportunities for 2019 and report under CFP Article 50}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, year = {2018}, month = apr, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/zhxd3oyu/clientearth-letter-to-commission-regarding-recommendations-for-the-commissions-communication-on-fishing-opportunities-for-2019-and-report-under-cfp-article-50-ce-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }