Fish catches in European waters could increase by 57% if fish stocks were exploited sustainably and if exploitation was based on scientific advice, according to new research released by the NGO Oceana on Monday 14 November.
The study, led by fisheries expert Dr. Rainer Froese from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel in Germany, makes quite alarming reading: in the EU, 85% of fish stocks are in an unhealthy state (that is to say they are overfished) and only 12% are being exploited in line with the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) rules which require an end to overfishing (by achievement of the maximum sustainable yield) by 2020 at the latest.
“For the first time ever, we know the potential of fish recovery in Europe and it’s good news! If we managed fish sustainably and based this management on science, catches could increase by 57% or 5 million tonnes”, said Lasse Gustavsson, executive director of Oceana in Europe.
Healthy stocks would mean more fish in the sea, leading to bigger catches with less effort and less of an impact on the ecosystem, Oceana says. The report shows that proper management could bring potential increases of 300% or more for catches of haddock and cod in the North Sea, some herring stocks in the Celtic Seas, and sardine stocks in the Cantabrian Sea.
The regions that show the highest percentage of stocks at healthy biomass levels are the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea (67%), while just 2.8% of the stocks in the European Mediterranean Sea have a healthy biomass.
Oceana intends to put pressure on European fisheries ministers who, in mid-December, will set total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas for 2017 in the Atlantic and the North Sea. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)