The New Economics Foundation (NEF) and the organisation Our Fish called on the EU and its member states on Wednesday 29 April to “include ending overfishing in their climate laws”. A new study, in support of this request, shows that EU countries have overfished 8.78 million tonnes of fish during the last 20 years (see EUROPE 12191/10).
According to the analysis published by the NEF, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, The Netherlands and Germany top the ‘overfishing League’ table. These countries have, according to the data, the highest percentage of quotas above scientifically advised levels for sustainable limits over a 20-year period (35%, 24%, 23%, 23% and 22% respectively).
The United Kingdom, Denmark and Spain have received the most in terms of excess tonnage (1.78 million tonnes, 1.48 million tonnes and 1.04 million tonnes respectively).
If the EU delivered on its commitment to end overfishing and rebuild damaged fish stocks to sustainable levels, “it could create over 20,000 new jobs, provide food for 89 million people, and generate an extra €1.6 billion in annual revenue”, said Griffin Carpenter, a researcher at the NEF. He says that “to deliver sustainable seas, EU fisheries ministers must end this practice, and respect EU law, by following scientific advice” when setting fishing quotas at the end of the year.
The report also shows that between 2001 and 2020, on average, six out of ten total allowable catches (TACs) were set above scientific advice. While the percentage by which TACs were set above advice declined throughout this period (from 39% to 10% in all EU waters), the proportion of TACs set above advice has had a lesser decline, from eight out of ten TACs to five out of ten.
To view the analysis: https://bit.ly/2y9Ly3B (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)