Positions & Papers

Joint NGO briefing: Don’t sink the Common Fisheries Policy – fulfil its potential

November 20, 2025

As the European Commission prepares its evaluation of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), environmental NGOs across Europe and beyond urge EU and national policymakers to help build a sustainable and resilient fishing sector by upholding regulatory stability and prioritising the effective implementation of existing law

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Recommendations to the EU on the setting of fishing opportunities for 2024

September 15, 2023

The 19 NGO signatories of this document wish to present our recommendations on the setting of fishing opportunities for 2024, including for stocks managed by the European Union (EU) alone and stocks shared with third countries like the United Kingdom (UK) and Norway. Read the recommendations here.

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Joint NGO feedback to the European Commission on the “Sustainable fishing in the EU: state of play and orientations for 2024”

August 4, 2023

Joint response to the European Commission's public consultation on the progress towards achieving more sustainable fisheries, the state of fish stocks and the setting of fishing opportunities (initiative Sustainable fishing in the EU: state of play and orientations for 2024) by BirdLife International, Blue Marine Foundation, ClientEarth, Dutch Elasmobranch Society, Ecologistas en Acción, Fair Seas Ireland, Oceana, Sciaena, Seas At Risk, The Fisheries Secretariat, and WWF.

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Joint NGO recommendations on Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2024

June 19, 2023

The Baltic Sea ecosystem is in severe distress and the major commercial fish stocks have never been in worse condition. In October 2023, EU fisheries ministers will agree on fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea for 2024. We have provided joint NGO recommendations on Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2024 in the context of environmental regulations, EU fisheries legislation, scientific advice on catch limits, and the sharing of stocks with third countries. Read the NGO briefing here.

NGOs urgent request to the Swedish Presidency on the EU’s fisheries control system

January 20, 2023

ClientEarth, the Environmental Justice Foundation, Oceana, Our Fish, Sciaena, Seas at Risk, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, The Fisheries Secretariat, The Nature Conservancy, and WWF have sent a letter to Swedish Minister for Rural Affairs, Peter Kullgren, asking them to ensure trilogue discussions conclude with an ambitious agreement that future-proofs the EU’s fisheries control regulatory framework, without any backtracking or weakening of current control rules. We call on the Swedish Presidency to:

Ensure that all quantities of each fish species caught are recorded, without expanding the margin of error allowed (the margin of tolerance) when fishing operators estimate their catches.
Ensure full digital traceability of all fish and seafood products entering the EU supply chain without exemptions, including processed and preserved products.
Extend mandatory vessel tracking systems for all fishing vessels.
Make the installation of remote electronic monitoring (REM) systems – in particular CCTV cameras – mandatory on all fishing vessels over 12 metres in length and on those under 12 metres that are deemed either at risk of breaching the rules of the Regulation or likely to be complicit in the bycatch of sensitive species.

The ongoing trilogue negotiations provide the opportunity to establish the EU’s fisheries control framework for years to come. It must therefore ensure that EU fisheries will be properly and sustainably managed with the aim of minimising environmental impacts of fishing activities, ensuring food security, and creating climate-resilient and healthy marine ecosystems.

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Joint NGO recommendations on Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2023

June 15, 2022

In October 2022, EU fisheries ministers will agree on fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea for 2023. As the deadline to end overfishing by 2020 has passed, all fishing limits must be in line with sustainable exploitation rates. We have provided joint NGO recommendations on Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2023 in the context of environmental regulations, EU fisheries legislation, scientific advice on catch limits, and the sharing of stocks with third countries. Read the NGO briefing here.

December 9, 2021

NGOs ask Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Mr. Virginijus Sinkevičius, for the prohibition of catches of tope shark (Galeorhinus galeus) in the Northeast Atlantic as this is the only logical outcome for the management of this threatened species in European waters after over a decade of ineffective management1.

211208 Tope shark protection letter

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Joint NGO recommendations Northeast Atlantic fishing opportunities 2022

October 14, 2021

NGO signatories of this document wish to present our recommendations on the setting of fishing opportunities for north east Atlantic fish stocks 2022. 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 safeguard marine ecosystem functions.

210831 FINAL_NGO recommendations NEA on FO to EU

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Updated FINAL NGO recommendations Baltic TACs 2022 based on ICES advice for salmon and western baltic cod

October 8, 2021

When our first Joint NGO recommendations Baltic TACs 2022 was released International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) had not been able to produce their advice for a number of stocks. As soon as the advice was released the Joint recommendations was complemented with a non-paper that was circulated to stakeholders. This updated version of the joint recommendations includes the final recommendations from the non-paper. In October 2021, EU fisheries ministers will agree on fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea for 2022. We have provided a range of recommendations regarding the principles for setting sustainable fishing quotas in line with the Common Fisheries Policy and also specific recommendations for the Total Allowable Catches for each of the Baltic fish stocks that are managed by quota. Read the NGO briefing. 211008 FINAL Joint NGO recommendations Baltic TACs 2022

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Common Fisheries Policy: Mission not yet accomplished

June 11, 2021

Seven years after the last reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) entered into force, the EU, which has exclusive competence in this area, is yet to succeed in fulfilling its objectives. Implementation and enforcement challenges remain, often due to Member States’ inaction, insufficient oversight by the European Commission and industry resistance to change. Possible solutions exist within the CFP itself, or in other available legal instruments, without the need to reform the CFP Basic Regulation in the medium-term.

Article 49 of the CFP Basic Regulation states that: “The Commission shall report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the functioning of the CFP by 31 December 2022”. In anticipation of this report, this policy paper aims to provide a constructive assessment by mapping weaknesses in CFP implementation and opportunities to address them. We offer recommendations for tackling the gaps to end overfishing, including in the Mediterranean Sea, for implementing the landing obligation, reducing the negative impacts of fishing on the environment, transitioning to low-impact fisheries, eliminating harmful subsidies, improving regionalisation and the external dimension, and addressing the lack of climate change considerations in the CFP. NGOs call on the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of the EU, Member States, and relevant stakeholders to deliver urgently on the CFP’s objectives to ensure the long-term environmental sustainability of fisheries and of the coastal communities that depend on them.

210611 CFP Mission Not Yet Accomplished_joint NGO

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