Fish stocks in the Northeast Atlantic are within healthy ranges

What is the state of play when it comes to sustainable fishing for 2024 in the EU? This is addressed in a Commission Communication paper released 14 June 2023. Overall, far fewer fish stocks are now overfished, and fishers are seeing the socio-economic gains from certain stocks that have been managed at healthier levels for some time.

The Commission finds that the stocks in the Northeast Atlantic, on average, now are within the range consistent with the common fishery policies. The Skagerrak/Atlantic waters have lower pressures on fish stocks. In these sea basins, the sustainable management of 29 stocks has delivered positive results with major increases in TAC in key commercial fisheries for 2023.

However, the Commission also finds that there are various pressures in the Baltic Sea today, which have led to the degradation of the biodiversity. These pressures include high pollution from nutrient inputs and persistently high levels of contaminants stemming primarily from the environmental situation.

As the Commission also notes, landing declarations and sales notes are essential to monitor quota uptake and report aggregated catch data. Accurate reporting is vital as it is the basis for sustainable fishing and for reliable scientific data.

As buyers of small pelagics in bulk, European Fishmeal and Fish Oil & Marine Ingredients Denmark have been frontrunners to ensuring that all catches are recorded properly to monitor quota uptake in order to ensure sustainable fishing. We strongly recommend that the Commission ensures and creates a level playing field.

Read the Communication paper here.

You can also read our standard for weighing and draining of unsorted pelagic landings for fishmeal and fish oil production here.