Report | September 12, 2024

Recommendations to the EU on the setting of fishing opportunities for 2025

The 22 NGO signatories of this document wish to present our recommendations on the setting of fishing opportunities – Total Allowable Catches (TACs) as well as fishing effort restrictions – for 2025, including for stocks managed by the European Union (EU) alone and stocks shared with third countries like the United Kingdom (UK) and Norway. Our intent is to assist the European Commission, the Council of the EU and the Member States in making decisions on fishing opportunities that:

  • Finally end overfishing,
  • Significantly contribute to restoring and/or maintaining all fish stocks above healthy levels and to minimising levels of incidental catches, and
  • Safeguard marine ecosystem functioning and resilience, also in light of the increasing effects of climate change.

Rebuilding its own fish populations is also imperative to strengthen the EU´s food sovereignty and reduce its dependence on imports from sources that are uncooperative, yet competitive, or have a high risk of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.