Several NGOs, including Oceana, Our Fish and Seas At Risk, called on the European Commission and the United Kingdom on Thursday 29 September to end overfishing in the decisions arising from the negotiations to set total allowable catches (TACs) for jointly managed stocks.
Negotiations between the EU and the UK on more than 100 TACs in the North-East Atlantic, for 2023, are due to take place over the next few months and the aim for the parties is to conclude by 5 December 2022.
“We urge you to set and reach a clear objective for these negotiations: to significantly improve the state of shared fish populations, for the sake of the environment and the people”, reads a letter from the NGOs to European Commissioner for Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius and UK Secretary of State Ranil Jayawardena.
Almost two-thirds of the 2022 TACs involving the UK, which mainly concern stocks shared with the EU, have been set above the volumes recommended by scientific advice and 28% of the assessed stocks are still overexploited in the North-East Atlantic waters, explains Oceana.
Link to the letter: https://aeur.eu/f/3co (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)