Fishing boat – Image Pixabay
(BRUSSELS) – The sustainability of EU fisheries has improved with fewer stocks being overfished, however more efforts are needed to ensure the resilience of fishing activities and improvement of fish stocks.
The Commission Communication ‘Sustainable fishing in the EU: state of play and orientations for 2024’, based on independent scientific assessments, outlines the orientations for the Commission proposals for fishing opportunities for 2024 and starts a consultation process with interested actors. The proposals will aim to keep stocks that have reached sustainable levels already at those levels, and help other fish stocks recover.
The Communication shows that fish stocks in the Northeast Atlantic are generally within healthy ranges, with the latest assessment pointing to the best so far sustainability results. A particularly positive example is the Bay of Biscay, which in the latest assessment from 2021 became the first EU sea area with no stocks overfished. This proves the EU sustainable fisheries management decisions are paying off.
In the Mediterranean and the Black Seas, while stocks are slowly becoming healthier, fishing mortality continues to pose difficulties. The fishing mortality rate for 2020, the latest available data, is the lowest so far, but it is still 71% above the recommended sustainability rate.
The situation in the Baltic remains challenging, as other pressures than fishing impact fish populations. The Commission will continue to take measures to address all the various pressures on fish stocks and help improving the state of the ecosystems in the Baltic Sea.
Communication ‘Sustainable fishing in the EU: state of play and orientations for 2024’
