Recommendations to the UK on the setting of fishing opportunities for 2022

A joint statement by five NGOs urging the UK Government to set 2022 fishing opportunities below scientific advice to combat overfishing and enhance marine ecosystem resilience.

• The authors call on the UK Government to set fishing opportunities below the best available scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) for both MSY-based and data-limited precautionary approach stocks.
• To account for widespread non-compliance with the Landing Obligation (LO), the NGOs recommend setting Total Allowable Catches (TACs) lower than ICES maximum catch advice to prevent fishing mortality from exceeding sustainable levels.
• The document recommends creating a "climate buffer" by setting TACs below maximum catch advice for species particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts to increase population resilience.
• For forage fish such as sand eel, sardines, sprat, and Norway pout, the authors argue for an ecosystem-based approach that sets TACs below advised levels to account for the needs of dependent predators like marine mammals and seabirds.
• The NGOs urge the UK to avoid unilateral quota settings for shared stocks and instead pursue multilateral collaboration and multi-annual management based on peer-reviewed scientific advice.
• For severely overexploited stocks—including North Sea cod, Celtic Sea cod, West of Scotland cod, Irish Sea whiting, and herring in the West of Scotland and West of Ireland—the authors recommend prioritizing recovery over short-term profit and strictly following ICES advice, including zero catch limits where applicable.

APA

ClientEarth (2021). Recommendations to the UK on the setting of fishing opportunities for 2022. https://www.clientearth.org/media/g1mfx1q2/joint-ngo-recommendations-to-the-uk-on-fishing-opportunities-for-2022.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Recommendations to the UK on the setting of fishing opportunities for 2022. 2021. https://www.clientearth.org/media/g1mfx1q2/joint-ngo-recommendations-to-the-uk-on-fishing-opportunities-for-2022.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=Recommendations to the UK on the setting of fishing opportunities for 2022 |date=August 2021 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/g1mfx1q2/joint-ngo-recommendations-to-the-uk-on-fishing-opportunities-for-2022.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearth2021recommendations, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Recommendations to the UK on the setting of fishing opportunities for 2022}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, year = {2021}, month = aug, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/g1mfx1q2/joint-ngo-recommendations-to-the-uk-on-fishing-opportunities-for-2022.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }