1.1. Contact organisation
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union
1.2. Contact organisation unit
E2: Environmental statistics and accounts; sustainable development
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
Joseph Bech building
5, Rue Alphonse Weicker
L-2721 Luxembourg
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
12 April 20242.2. Metadata last posted
30 April 20252.3. Metadata last update
30 April 2025The indicator is part of the EU Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicator set. It is used to monitor progress towards SDG 14 on conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas and marine recources for sustainable development which is embedded in the European Commission’s Priorities under 'Sustaining our quality of life: food security, water and nature'.
SDG 14 aims to protect and ensure the sustainable use of oceans. This includes the reduction of marine pollution and the impacts of ocean acidification, the ending of overfishing and the conservation of marine and coastal areas and ecosystems. SDG 14 has strong interdependencies with a broad range of other SDGs, as oceans sustain coastal economies and livelihoods, contribute to food production and function as a carbon sink.
The indicator can be considered as similar to the global SDG indicator 14.4.1 "Proportion of fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels".
The Common Fisheries Policy aims to ensure the long-term sustainability of the sector by safeguarding stock reproduction for high long-term yield, improving distribution of fishing opportunities, conserving marine resources and supporting the profitability of the industry. The Marine Strategy Framework Directive takes a comprehensive and integrated approach to the protection of the marine environment and natural resources with the aim of achieving good environmental status of EU marine waters that are ecologically diverse, clean healthy and productive.
4.1. Data description
Fish stock biomass is a function of biological characteristics such as abundance and weight and can indicate the status of a fish stock when measured against reference values. This is a model-based indicator that is computed using results from single-species quantitative stock assessments. It shows the median value of fish stock biomass relative to 2003. The full time series is updated every year, sometimes including new stocks due to newly available quantitative assessments which can result in small differences from one release year to the next.
4.2. Unit of measure
Fish stock biomass - index 2003 = 100
4.3. Reference Period
Calendar year
4.4. Accuracy - overall
Indicator from non-ESS sources. For assessment of accuracy please refer to the original source (see link to external data source and metadata in section “Annexes”).
4.5. Source data
4.5.1. Source data - Organisation
JRC (STECF)
4.5.2. Source data - Comment
Data source: Monitoring the performance of the Common Fisheries Policy Report (STECF)
Data provider: Joint Research Centre (JRC).
Time series for the EU waters of the North-East Atlantic and adjacent seas are provided by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).
For the Mediterranean and Black Sea region (FAO area 37), the information were extracted from the STECF Mediterranean Expert Working Group repositories (https://stecf.ec.europa.eu/reports_en) and from the GFCM stock assessment forms (https://www.fao.org/gfcm/data/star).
5.1. Frequency of dissemination
5.1.1. Frequency of dissemination - Grade
Every year5.1.2. Frequency of dissemination - Comment
Indicator is updated annually in April.
5.2. Timeliness
5.2.1. Timeliness - Grade
> T+2 years5.2.2. Timeliness - Comment
New data points are disseminated three years after the reference year.
6.1. Reference area
6.1.1. Reference Area - Grade
Not Applicable6.1.2. Reference Area - Comment
No data for individual countries are presented. Data cover the North-East Atlantic and adjacent seas (FAO area 27) and the Mediterranean and Black Sea region (FAO area 37).
6.2. Comparability - geographical
6.2.1. Comparability - geographical - Grade
Not Applicable6.2.2. Comparability - geographical - Comment
Indicator does not refer to individual countries but to FAO areas 27 and 37.
6.3. Coverage - Time
6.3.1. Time Coverage - Grade
> 10 years6.3.2. Time Coverage - Comment
Presented time series starts in year 2003. The EU aggregate is only available until 2021 to respect the time limit set to the Mediterranean and Black Sea time series.
6.4. Comparability - over time
6.4.1. Comparability - over time - Grade
> 4 data points6.4.2. Comparability - over time - Comment
Length of comparable time series without methodological break is longer than 4 data points. The full time series is updated every year, sometimes including new stocks due to newly available quantitative assessments which can result in small differences from one release year to the next.
7.1. Dissemination format - Publications
Analysis of indicator is presented in Eurostat's annual monitoring report on Sustainable development in the EU (progress towards SDGs in the EU context).
7.2. Dissemination format - online database
see table sdg_14_21
7.3. Dissemination format - other
Eurostat dedicated section on SDGs: overview.
Copyrights: Eurostat Copyright/Licence Policy is applicable.
