Joint NGO recommendations on fishing opportunities for 2018 Northeast Atlantic and North Sea stocks

The briefing urges the Council to set Total Allowable Catches (TACs) within scientifically advised levels to meet the 2020 deadline for Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY). It specifically calls for the removal of bycatch footnotes that exceed scientific advice, the introduction of measures for stocks without TACs—including adding European eel to the prohibited species list—and increased transparency in the decision-making process to address mismatches between management areas and scientific stock assessment units.

• The Council is urged to set TACs that do not exceed Fishing Mortality at Maximum Sustainable Yield (FMSY) for all stocks where such advice is available, as the 2020 legal deadline for achieving MSY exploitation rates is approaching.
• The document criticizes the practice of keeping TACs unchanged for a specific list of 26 stocks until the end of 2018, arguing that rolling over these opportunities perpetuates levels that exceed scientific advice.
• Certain stocks without TACs have been exploited unsustainably, leading to ICES advice for zero catches; these include sea bass in the North Sea, Irish Sea, English Channel, Bristol Channel, and Celtic Sea, as well as sardine in the Cantabrian Sea and Iberian Atlantic waters.
• The authors support the European Commission's proposal to add the critically endangered European eel to the prohibited species list to stop the targeting of adult eel in marine waters.
• Current bycatch footnotes, which allow a percentage of a target species' TAC to cover other species, are flagged as risky because they can increase mortality of non-targeted species beyond safe biological limits.
• Regarding the landing obligation, the document argues that quota top-ups should only be granted if the TAC before the top-up does not exceed scientific advice on landings and is based on reliable discard data.
• There is a reported lack of transparency in the Council's decision-making process, specifically regarding justifications for setting TACs above Commission proposals or ICES advice.
• Mismatches between management areas used for TACs and the stock assessment areas used by ICES prevent stakeholders from accurately assessing if fishing limits are sustainable.

APA

ClientEarth (2017). Joint NGO recommendations on fishing opportunities for 2018 Northeast Atlantic and North Sea stocks. https://www.clientearth.org/media/fzjdb1az/joint-ngo-recommendations-on-fishing-opportunities-for-2018-policy-annex-coll-en.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Joint NGO recommendations on fishing opportunities for 2018 Northeast Atlantic and North Sea stocks. 2017. https://www.clientearth.org/media/fzjdb1az/joint-ngo-recommendations-on-fishing-opportunities-for-2018-policy-annex-coll-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=ClientEarth |title=Joint NGO recommendations on fishing opportunities for 2018 Northeast Atlantic and North Sea stocks |date=4 December 2017 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/fzjdb1az/joint-ngo-recommendations-on-fishing-opportunities-for-2018-policy-annex-coll-en.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clientearth2017joint, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Joint NGO recommendations on fishing opportunities for 2018 Northeast Atlantic and North Sea stocks}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2017}, month = dec, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/fzjdb1az/joint-ngo-recommendations-on-fishing-opportunities-for-2018-policy-annex-coll-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }