EU Fisheries Control System Factsheet

The document advocates for the transition from paper-based to electronic catch certificates within the EU's fisheries control system to reduce fraud and improve traceability. It supports the European Commission's proposal to implement a mandated EU-wide database system called CATCH to harmonise controls across Member States.

• Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is estimated to account for one in five wild-caught fish sold at market, with a global annual value between $10 billion and $23.5 billion.
• The current EU system processes approximately 250,000 paper catch certificates annually, a method that hinders effective information-sharing and cross-checking between Member States due to varied national procedures.
• Paper-based certification is susceptible to fraud, specifically through the photocopying of certificates to obscure the traceability of seafood.
• The proposed electronic EU-wide database system, known as CATCH, would enable the electronic submission, validation, and management of catch certificates and facilitate data sharing between Member States and the European Commission.
• Mandating the use of new IT tools for catch certificates and increasing Commission vigilance over Member State implementation is recommended to limit the entry of IUU products into the EU.

APA

ClientEarth (n.d.). EU Fisheries Control System Factsheet. https://www.clientearth.org/media/s2cpg1we/iuu-factsheet-coll-en.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. EU Fisheries Control System Factsheet. n.d. https://www.clientearth.org/media/s2cpg1we/iuu-factsheet-coll-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=ClientEarth |title=EU Fisheries Control System Factsheet |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/s2cpg1we/iuu-factsheet-coll-en.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clientearthndfisheries, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{EU Fisheries Control System Factsheet}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/s2cpg1we/iuu-factsheet-coll-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }