Taking stock 2024 - are TACs set to achieve MSY?

The report finds that while the EU and UK have made progress in aligning TACs with scientific advice since 2015, they missed the 2020 legal deadline to end overfishing. In 2024, nearly 24% of analyzed TACs still exceeded scientific advice. The analysis reveals a systemic lack of ambition for data-limited stocks subject to precautionary advice and for bycatch stocks, which are more frequently overfished than target stocks. The report also highlights significant transparency failures in the TAC-setting process and calls for an ecosystem-based approach that sets limits well below single-stock advice to ensure stock recovery and resilience against climate change.

• The EU missed its 2020 legal deadline to end overfishing, and progress toward sustainable TACs has been too slow. The percentage of TACs set above scientific advice decreased from 48% in 2020 to 24% in 2024.
• There is a marked difference in how MSY-based advice and precautionary advice are followed. In 2024, 80% of TACs for MSY-assessed stocks followed scientific advice, compared to only 56% for stocks with precautionary advice.
• Bycatch stocks are prioritized less than target stocks. In 2024, 46% of TACs for bycatch stocks exceeded scientific advice, whereas only 9% of target stock TACs did so.
• The average percentage difference between agreed TACs and scientific advice has declined significantly over the time series, reaching an all-time low of approximately -3% in 2024.
• Decision-makers are more likely to ignore scientific advice when a catch reduction is recommended. The vast majority of TACs set above advice refer to cases where a cut was advised.
• Nine stocks in the core analysis were estimated to be below the limit reference point for biomass (Blim) according to 2025 ICES advice, including Irish Sea and Celtic Sea whiting, and cod in the Kattegat, Celtic Sea, and Irish Sea.
• The UK has demonstrated an environmentally progressive approach in some areas, such as pushing for ecosystem-based management of forage fish like sandeel and implementing closures of English and Scottish waters to sandeel fishing in March 2024.
• The UK has also advocated for increased inter-area flexibility for haddock into the West of Scotland, which the EU criticized as a risk to vulnerable stocks like West of Scotland cod.
• The TAC-setting process suffers from a systemic lack of transparency, with the Council failing to implement the European Ombudsman's 2019 recommendation to publish documents as soon as they are circulated to Member States.
• The landing obligation is poorly implemented and controlled, particularly in France, Spain, and Denmark, which risks overfishing when catch-based TACs are used without accurate documentation.

APA

ClientEarth (2024). Taking stock 2024 - are TACs set to achieve MSY? https://www.clientearth.org/media/aocldu3w/taking-stock-2024-are-tacs-set-to-achieve-msy-final.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Taking stock 2024 - are TACs set to achieve MSY? 2024. https://www.clientearth.org/media/aocldu3w/taking-stock-2024-are-tacs-set-to-achieve-msy-final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=ClientEarth |title=Taking stock 2024 - are TACs set to achieve MSY? |date=November 2024 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/aocldu3w/taking-stock-2024-are-tacs-set-to-achieve-msy-final.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clientearth2024taking, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Taking stock 2024 - are TACs set to achieve MSY?}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2024}, month = nov, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/aocldu3w/taking-stock-2024-are-tacs-set-to-achieve-msy-final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }