Joint NGO response to the Commission consultation on the setting of fishing opportunities for 2020

The document argues that the European Commission has made insufficient progress in implementing the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), noting that 41 percent of analysed stocks remain overfished. The NGOs call for 2020 TAC proposals to strictly follow scientific advice, improve the implementation of the Landing Obligation (LO) through better monitoring like CCTV, and increase transparency in the TAC setting process.

• The NGOs assert that progress toward Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) objectives is too slow, citing a STECF report stating that "many stocks remain overfished and/or outside safe biological limits" and that progress by 2017 was insufficient to ensure all stocks would be managed according to FMSY by 2020.
• Approximately 41 percent of analysed stocks (29 of 70) are still overfished relative to the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) exploitation rate, representing a small reduction from 47 percent (33 of 70) in 2014.
• The authors claim the Commission presents an "overly optimistic interpretation" of CFP progress by omitting stocks with data-limited scientific advice and focusing on landings volumes rather than the number of stocks meeting fishing mortality and biomass objectives.
• Despite available scientific advice, over 40 percent of Total Allowable Catches (TACs) remain higher than that advice as of 2020, with a particular concern that stocks treated as bycatch or subject to data-limited advice are managed with lower ambition.
• The NGOs argue that the Landing Obligation (LO) is poorly implemented, and that the use of bycatch TACs and quota top-ups without robust monitoring—such as CCTV or remote electronic monitoring—risks increasing fishing mortality above sustainable levels.

APA

ClientEarth (2019). Joint NGO response to the Commission consultation on the setting of fishing opportunities for 2020. https://www.clientearth.org/media/02jjpsrz/joint-ngo-response-to-the-commission-consultation-on-the-setting-of-fishing-opportunities-for-2020-coll-en.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Joint NGO response to the Commission consultation on the setting of fishing opportunities for 2020. 2019. https://www.clientearth.org/media/02jjpsrz/joint-ngo-response-to-the-commission-consultation-on-the-setting-of-fishing-opportunities-for-2020-coll-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=Joint NGO response to the Commission consultation on the setting of fishing opportunities for 2020 |date=19 August 2019 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/02jjpsrz/joint-ngo-response-to-the-commission-consultation-on-the-setting-of-fishing-opportunities-for-2020-coll-en.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearth2019joint, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Joint NGO response to the Commission consultation on the setting of fishing opportunities for 2020}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, year = {2019}, month = aug, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/02jjpsrz/joint-ngo-response-to-the-commission-consultation-on-the-setting-of-fishing-opportunities-for-2020-coll-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }