Joint NGO Reaction Commission’s proposal on targets under art. 4 of the Technical and Conservation Measures Regulation

A coalition of NGOs supports the European Commission's proposal to use scientific 'selectivity performance indicators' to reduce juvenile fish catches but argues that these targets must be made mandatory, expanded to all commercial species, and tied to ambitious timelines. The NGOs also advocate for minimum conservation reference sizes (MCRS) to be based on the size at first maturity to ensure effective stock protection.

• The NGOs support the Commission's shift toward 'selectivity performance indicators' as a way to monitor progress in reducing juvenile catches, provided the targets are made legally binding to ensure Member States are incentivized to take action.
• The NGOs argue that the scope of the targets should be expanded to include all commercial species, criticizing the current proposal's focus only on 'the most important stocks' and noting that species like saithe might be excluded despite significant contributions to unwanted catches.
• The document highlights a lack of specific deadlines for achieving the targets and demands the introduction of ambitious timelines based on scientific advice from ICES and STECF.
• The NGOs recommend that minimum conservation reference sizes (MCRS) be based on the size at first maturity and that any MCRS currently below this threshold be increased.

APA

ClientEarth (2018). Joint NGO Reaction Commission’s proposal on targets under art. 4 of the Technical and Conservation Measures Regulation. https://www.clientearth.org/media/gadfcj1d/joint-ngo-reaction-to-commissions-proposal-on-targets-under-art-4-of-the-technical-and-conservation-measures-regulation-coll-en.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Joint NGO Reaction Commission’s proposal on targets under art. 4 of the Technical and Conservation Measures Regulation. 2018. https://www.clientearth.org/media/gadfcj1d/joint-ngo-reaction-to-commissions-proposal-on-targets-under-art-4-of-the-technical-and-conservation-measures-regulation-coll-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=Joint NGO Reaction Commission’s proposal on targets under art. 4 of the Technical and Conservation Measures Regulation |date=July 2018 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/gadfcj1d/joint-ngo-reaction-to-commissions-proposal-on-targets-under-art-4-of-the-technical-and-conservation-measures-regulation-coll-en.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearth2018joint, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Joint NGO Reaction Commission’s proposal on targets under art. 4 of the Technical and Conservation Measures Regulation}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, year = {2018}, month = jul, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/gadfcj1d/joint-ngo-reaction-to-commissions-proposal-on-targets-under-art-4-of-the-technical-and-conservation-measures-regulation-coll-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }