Shared fish stocks

The briefing argues that the lack of comprehensive sharing arrangements for fish stocks shared between the EU, UK, and third countries often leads to catch levels exceeding scientific advice. It calls for the adoption of ecosystem-based fisheries management, the implementation of a genuine precautionary approach, and the avoidance of unilateral quota setting. Specifically, it urges the EU and UK to ensure total fishing limits do not exceed scientifically advised levels and to prioritize resolving allocation disputes for pelagic stocks like mackerel, herring, and blue whiting. The document also emphasizes the need for transparency under the Aarhus Convention and the use of ICES scientific advice as the primary basis for management decisions.

• The absence of comprehensive sharing arrangements for fish populations shared between the EU, UK, and third countries frequently results in catch levels that exceed scientific advice, contributing to continued overfishing.
• The EU and UK are urged to ensure that total fishing limits for all exploited fish populations do not exceed scientifically advised levels and to withhold any share of an overshoot from their fishers if overall limits exceed such advice.
• The briefing recommends that the EU and UK push for TACs to be set well below the single-stock advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) when that advice does not fully safeguard ecosystem health or target rapid recovery.
• The UK has established a precedent for withholding quota shares for environmental benefits, specifically by not allocating its share of bilaterally agreed sandeel TACs with the EU to its fishers since 2021.
• The document calls for the use of ICES published scientific advice as the basis for decisions and demands that management proposals, negotiations, and party positions be published for public scrutiny under the Aarhus Convention.
• Under Article 499(2) of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), if the EU and UK fail to agree on TACs for shared stocks by December 20th, any provisional unilateral TACs must not exceed the party's share of the maximum catch level advised by ICES.

APA

ClientEarth (2025). Shared fish stocks. https://www.clientearth.org/media/0m1jd0vk/joint-briefing-series-recommendations-on-fishing-opportunities-briefing-4-shared-fish-stocks.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Shared fish stocks. 2025. https://www.clientearth.org/media/0m1jd0vk/joint-briefing-series-recommendations-on-fishing-opportunities-briefing-4-shared-fish-stocks.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=ClientEarth |title=Shared fish stocks |date=July 2025 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/0m1jd0vk/joint-briefing-series-recommendations-on-fishing-opportunities-briefing-4-shared-fish-stocks.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clientearth2025shared, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Shared fish stocks}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2025}, month = jul, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/0m1jd0vk/joint-briefing-series-recommendations-on-fishing-opportunities-briefing-4-shared-fish-stocks.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }