The Com­mission is asking for the views of Member States, the fishing industry and non-govern­mental organisations in advisory councils, as well as interested citizens and organisations via an online public consultation, which it will use when preparing its proposals on fishing opportunities during the autumn.

What are fishing opportunities? How are they set?

Each year the Commission tables the so-called Total Allowable Catches (TACs) to be applied the following year to most commercial stocks in EU waters except the Medi­terranean Sea. The proposed amounts are based on biological advice and economic analysis from independent bodies. Later in the year the Council, composed of the Fisheries Ministers of each Member State and the Commis­sion, takes a final decision on these TACs. Once fixed, the amounts are divided up among Member States according to pre-agreed shares, the so-called quotas. Member States manage the national quotas and share them out among the fishing industry, as rights to fish and land a certain amount of fish within the calendar year.

Where does the scientific advice come from?

Fishermen provide data on their catches and fishing activity, which are used by fisheries experts who then assess the state of the stocks. The experts also use samples from com­mercial landings and from discards, and use research vessels to sample the amounts of fish in the sea at different places and different times of year. They determine the state of the stock and then work out how much should be fished sustainably in the follow­ing year, often with the help of models. This work is done under the coordination of the independent International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) who provides the Commission with independent advice. In some cases, other advisory bodies, such as the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF), are consulted.

What is the basis for the fishing opportunities?

The EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) fixes the legally binding objective of reaching maximum sustain­able yield (MSY) as soon as possible and by 2020 at the latest. MSY translates into deliv­ery of the highest possible long-term catches. At the same time it contributes to the sus­tainable conservation of stocks and allows for the maximisation of fish supply from fishing. The TACs are set with a view to ensuring MSY.

Since 2015 a landing obligation has been gradually introduced, thereby prohibiting the throwing back of fish into the sea once it has been caught. By 2019, all European fisheries will be covered by this landing obligation. In 2016, demersal fish (for in­stance hake, cod, haddock, or sole) started to be subject to the landing obligation in the Atlantic waters and the North Sea. This change has implications for the levels of relevant TACs, which can be adjusted according to biological advice to take into account that previously discarded fish is now landed.

Regionalised management under the CFP is also making progress. While TACs are set by the Council of Ministers, for the management of the landing obligation, Member States are preparing the implementation at regional level through their own discard plans rather than through detail­ed decisions taken centrally in Brussels.

Is the policy working?

Yes. In the Northeast Atlantic area (including the North and Baltic Seas), the move towards sustainability is both widespread and visible. While in the early 2000s most stocks were overfished, nowadays more than half of the (assessed) stocks are managed sustainably, and this includes many of the largest and commercially most valuable stocks. This is real and important progress towards achieving the objectives of the CFP.

In the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea most stocks are still overfished. While Member States have put in place management plans for their fisheries on a local or re­gional basis, these have yet to show tangible results. With an improving knowledge base and increasing biological advice for these areas, the challenges for the fisheries in these sea basins are also becoming more obvious.

Next steps

June – September:  Public consultation on the Communication

May/June/October: Stock advice by ICES

July: Seminar on stock advice with stakeholders

September: Adoption TAC proposals for the Baltic Sea

October: Council on TAC for the Baltic Sea. Adoption TAC proposals for Atlantic/North Sea and deep-sea stocks

November: Council on TAC for deep-sea stocks. Adoption TAC proposals for Black Sea

December: Council on TAC for Atlantic/North Sea/Black Sea

For further information

Communication: Consultation on fishing opportunities for 2017 under the Common Fisheries Policy

Press release: Fishing opportunities for 2017: A commitment to healthy and profitable fisheries