Seafood industry stakeholders comment on the Fisheries Bill

The Sustainable Seafood Coalition (SSC), representing major UK seafood buyers, argues that the Fisheries Bill as drafted contains weaknesses that could undermine the sustainability of UK fisheries. The coalition calls for legal commitments to set fishing limits at or below maximum sustainable yield (MSY), the implementation of remote electronic monitoring (REM) across all vessel sizes, and a commitment to co-manage shared stocks based on scientific advice to avoid overfishing and illegal fishing.

• The Fisheries Bill is viewed as a regression from the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) because it replaces a legal commitment to fish in line with maximum sustainable yield (MSY) by 2020 with aspirational objectives and undrafted management plans.
• There is a risk that fisheries authorities may avoid scientific advice or ignore stock collapses because they have full discretion over management plans, which can be disregarded if they have a negative economic impact on the industry.
• The SSC recommends the rollout of remote electronic monitoring (REM) for all vessels in the UK Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), including vessel monitoring systems for all sizes and cameras for the over-10m fleet within 3 years and the under-10m fleet on a phased basis.
• The document argues that the Fisheries Bill lacks a firm commitment on managing shared stocks, which could lead to scenarios like the "mackerel wars" where catches were set 35% above scientific recommendations due to disagreements between the EU, Norway, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands.

APA

ClientEarth (2020). Seafood industry stakeholders comment on the Fisheries Bill. https://www.clientearth.org/media/e5tgghwh/subject-seafood-industry-stakeholders-comment-on-the-fisheries-bill-ssc-en-1.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Seafood industry stakeholders comment on the Fisheries Bill. 2020. https://www.clientearth.org/media/e5tgghwh/subject-seafood-industry-stakeholders-comment-on-the-fisheries-bill-ssc-en-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=Seafood industry stakeholders comment on the Fisheries Bill |date=8 September 2020 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/e5tgghwh/subject-seafood-industry-stakeholders-comment-on-the-fisheries-bill-ssc-en-1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearth2020seafood, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Seafood industry stakeholders comment on the Fisheries Bill}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, year = {2020}, month = sep, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/e5tgghwh/subject-seafood-industry-stakeholders-comment-on-the-fisheries-bill-ssc-en-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }