Civil Society Urges You to End Overfishing of Shared Stocks

A coalition of civil society organizations calls on the European Commission and the UK Government to align 2023 fisheries negotiations in the Northeast Atlantic with scientific advice. The letter argues that current catch limits often exceed sustainable levels, undermining biodiversity and climate resilience. The signatories demand the implementation of 'climate buffers' for vulnerable species, an ecosystem-based approach to management, and increased transparency in decision-making to prevent long-term socio-economic losses.

• The EU and UK have failed to meet the 2020 deadline for fishing at sustainable levels required by several international agreements, including the UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 and the Convention on Biodiversity.
• Current fisheries management in the Northeast Atlantic is insufficient, with 28% of fully assessed stocks remaining overfished and nearly two-thirds of 2022 catch limits involving the UK set above scientific advice.
• Overfishing and destructive fishing practices have been the primary cause of marine biodiversity loss for 40 years and reduce the ability of fish and wildlife to mitigate or withstand climate change impacts.
• The EU and UK import significant quantities of cod from Russia after depleting their own European populations; this imports a high risk of illegal and unsustainable catch, as Russia is ranked second globally in an index of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
• The signatories propose five specific actions: setting catch limits within scientific advice, implementing a "climate buffer" for vulnerable species, using an ecosystem-based approach, eliminating bycatch and discards through electronic monitoring, and increasing decision-making transparency.

APA

ClientEarth (2022). Civil Society Urges You to End Overfishing of Shared Stocks. https://www.clientearth.org/media/15qe3nwl/ngo-letter-to-eu-and-uk-on-overfishing_final.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Civil Society Urges You to End Overfishing of Shared Stocks. 2022. https://www.clientearth.org/media/15qe3nwl/ngo-letter-to-eu-and-uk-on-overfishing_final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=Civil Society Urges You to End Overfishing of Shared Stocks |date=28 September 2022 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/15qe3nwl/ngo-letter-to-eu-and-uk-on-overfishing_final.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearth2022civil, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Civil Society Urges You to End Overfishing of Shared Stocks}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, year = {2022}, month = sep, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/15qe3nwl/ngo-letter-to-eu-and-uk-on-overfishing_final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }