Fishing opportunities in an ecosystem context

The document advocates for a shift from single-stock fisheries management to an ecosystem-based approach in the EU and UK. It argues that current scientific advice from ICES and STECF often fails to account for the needs of predators and the impacts of climate change. The authors recommend setting Total Allowable Catches (TACs) below headline scientific advice to rebuild fish populations well above sustainable levels (BMSY) and to safeguard the food web, particularly for forage fish like sandeel, sprat, and herring.

• Current single-stock scientific advice from ICES and STECF is insufficient for ecosystem health because it aims for maximum sustainable yield (MSY) rather than maximizing long-term resilience. For forage fish such as sandeel, sprat, and herring, MSY-based exploitation typically leaves 40% of the unfished population in the ocean, whereas scientific literature suggests up to 75% should remain to support dependent predators.
• The authors recommend that the EU and UK set fishing opportunities below single-stock advice to create a buffer against climate change and uncertainty. They suggest targeting biomass levels at least 120% to 150% above reference points like BMSY, or defaulting to TACs that are 80% or less of the ICES headline advice.
• Investing in larger fish populations with a healthy age and size structure is presented as a way to increase resilience to climate change, pollution, and eutrophication. Larger stocks are argued to be more productive, improve the carbon efficiency of fishing operations, and provide greater economic stability for fishers by mitigating year-to-year fluctuations.
• The briefing identifies a failure to account for area closures in scientific advice, which can lead to a dangerous concentration of fishing effort in smaller areas. It specifically notes that ICES advice for sandeel did not account for UK and Scottish area closures.

APA

ClientEarth (2025). Fishing opportunities in an ecosystem context. https://www.clientearth.org/media/ixdocvi5/joint-briefing-series-recommendations-on-fishing-opportunities-briefing-5-fishing-opportunities-in-an-ecosystem-context.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Fishing opportunities in an ecosystem context. 2025. https://www.clientearth.org/media/ixdocvi5/joint-briefing-series-recommendations-on-fishing-opportunities-briefing-5-fishing-opportunities-in-an-ecosystem-context.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=ClientEarth |title=Fishing opportunities in an ecosystem context |date=July 2025 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/ixdocvi5/joint-briefing-series-recommendations-on-fishing-opportunities-briefing-5-fishing-opportunities-in-an-ecosystem-context.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clientearth2025fishing, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Fishing opportunities in an ecosystem context}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2025}, month = jul, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/ixdocvi5/joint-briefing-series-recommendations-on-fishing-opportunities-briefing-5-fishing-opportunities-in-an-ecosystem-context.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }