Sustainable Fisheries - Oceana Europe

Securing Sustainable Fisheries Management

Oceana advocates for managing fisheries sustainably, through setting fishing limits based on science and protecting marine ecosystems from the impacts of fishing, including by drastically reducing by-catch.

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Defending the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy

The CFP is the framework regulation for the management of EU fisheries, with the purpose of ensuring that fishing activities are environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable.

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Sustainable Fisheries

Fishing is one of the greatest threats to our ocean, impacting the status of fish populations and bycatch species, as well as the habitats that marine life depends on. Around 30% of North-East Atlantic and 80% of Mediterranean fish stocks are subject to overfishing. Strong, science-based regulation has been shown to allow stocks to recover, engender higher yields and provide substantial social, economic, and ecological benefits. Oceana works to ensure that fishing ceases to be a threat to our ocean and becomes a truly sustainable activity.

Sprat landing in Hel, Poland. © OCEANA / LX

Most of Europe’s fish populations are either overfished, or fished to their maximum sustainable yield (MSY).

Setting and enforcing science-based limits to govern how much fish can be taken out of the seas has been shown, time and again, to allow fish populations to remain healthy and, in many cases, dramatically increase in size. As a result of implementation of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), fishing mortality in the European Atlantic has fallen and the number of stocks exploited at sustainable (MSY) levels increased from 16 in 2005 to 54 in 2020.

This improvement shows that firm regulation, based on scientific advice, can deliver ecological and, with it, socio-economic results.

Oceana campaigns to defend progress made under the CFP and ensure European fish stocks are rebuilt, by advocating for science-based fishing limits and other fisheries management measures.

The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement now regulates the management of more than 75 shared fish stocks, as well as the fishing rights of the EU fleet in UK waters, and vice versa. A recent audit by Oceana found that 6 out of 10 UK fish stocks, including economically important cod, herring and scallops, are being overfished and/or are in a critical state. Oceana is campaigning to ensure that new fisheries policies developed as a result of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU maintain commercial stocks, including shared stocks, at sustainable levels.

Accomplishments

November, 2022

New International Rule Requires Countries to Investigate and Deter Companies from Engaging with Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing Vessels

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December, 2020

Scotland Creates New Marine Protected Area

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REPORT: Feedback to the European Commission on the CFP’s state of play

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REPORT: Was Article 11 of the CFP doomed to fail?

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REPORT: Recommendations to the UK on the setting of fishing opportunities for 2022

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REPORT: UK Fisheries Audit

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REPORT: Joint NGO recommendations on Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2022

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REPORT: The most comprehensive scientific study of EU fisheries ever. Led by renowned fisheries expert Dr. Rainer Froese for Oceana

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REPORT: Turning the Tide on EU Seas with Green Recovery

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Oceana in Europe gratefully acknowledges EU funding support.

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