The Report concludes that on the whole the EU fleet continues to be reduced, moving in the direction of the a balance with sustainable fishing maximum sustainable yield targets as set and agreed by Member States in the EU's Common Fisheries Policy. Over the last decade the fishing capacity of the EU fleet has decreased by 25% in gross tonnage and almost 13% in Kilowatts. Excess capacity is still observed in some fleet segments, but overall progress towards balancing fishing capacity and fishing opportunities has been significant across the EU. The capacity reduction of the last few years has helped improve the situation of over-exploited fish stocks and resulted in higher profits for the EU fleet.

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Report on Member States' efforts during 2014 to achieve a sustainable balance between fishing capacity and fishing opportunities