Recommendations to the EU on the setting of fishing opportunities for 2025

The document argues that the EU has failed its legal deadline to end overfishing by 2020 and calls for 2025 Total Allowable Catches (TACs) to be set well below scientific advice to build ecosystem resilience against climate change. It specifically recommends stricter management for the Western Mediterranean, depleted stocks with zero-catch advice, and deep-sea species, while urging the full implementation of the Landing Obligation through remote electronic monitoring.

• The EU missed its legal deadline to end overfishing and harvest all stocks sustainably by 2020, with many populations remaining overfished or outside safe biological limits.
• Total Allowable Catches (TACs) frequently exceed scientific advice; for 2024, a Cefas report found that only 46% of assessed TACs negotiated by the UK followed scientific advice.
• The NGOs recommend setting TACs well below the maximum catch levels advised by ICES and STECF to create a 'climate buffer' and maximize ecosystem resilience against marine heatwaves and other pressures.
• Current stock assessment models may overestimate the productivity and recovery of overfished species, leading to 'phantom recoveries' where biomass is actually declining or fluctuating at low levels.
• In the Western Mediterranean, 57% of fish populations managed by the West Med MAP are still subject to overfishing, and 85% do not meet the plan's biomass objectives.
• The Landing Obligation (LO) is not effectively enforced, and the NGOs argue that TACs should be set lower than maximum catch advice to account for widespread illegal discarding.
• For depleted stocks with zero-catch advice, the document recommends prohibiting 'bycatch TACs' unless a comprehensive rebuilding plan is implemented and monitored via remote electronic monitoring (REM).
• Deep-sea species are exceptionally vulnerable due to slow growth and late maturity, yet they are often managed with insufficient precaution or have had their TACs removed entirely.
• The European eel is listed as Critically Endangered, and the NGOs call for it to be added to the prohibited species list with a total ban on all targeted fishing.

APA

ClientEarth (2024). Recommendations to the EU on the setting of fishing opportunities for 2025. https://www.clientearth.org/media/vtic1wa5/ngo-fos-recommendations-to-eu-for-2025-final-v2.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Recommendations to the EU on the setting of fishing opportunities for 2025. 2024. https://www.clientearth.org/media/vtic1wa5/ngo-fos-recommendations-to-eu-for-2025-final-v2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=Recommendations to the EU on the setting of fishing opportunities for 2025 |date=12 September 2024 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/vtic1wa5/ngo-fos-recommendations-to-eu-for-2025-final-v2.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearth2024recommendations, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Recommendations to the EU on the setting of fishing opportunities for 2025}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, year = {2024}, month = sep, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/vtic1wa5/ngo-fos-recommendations-to-eu-for-2025-final-v2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }