Sustainable management of fish stocks

The most important CFP principle is the sustainable management of fish stocks, with stringent requirements for the recovery of fish stocks that are in a poor state, and modern fisheries management. 

In 2021, 62 % of commercial fish stocks worldwide were managed sustainably. In a global perspective, however, many of the commercially harvested fish stocks continue to be in a poor state. They are overfished or at risk of being overfished. In the past, this also held true for many stocks in EU waters. In 2021, however, almost 80 percent of stocks in the North East Atlantic were managed sustainably. (Source: FAO 2024: The State of World Fisheries ans Aquaculture 2024.)

In order to ensure sustainable fish stock management the CFP contains provisions on

• how much may be fished (total allowable catch and quotas);
• how and where to fish (technical measures), the intensity of fishing allowed (fishing effort).

EU legislation provides for comprehensive monitoring of fisheries in order to enforce these rules.

Maximum sustainable yield

The management of the fish stocks under the EU fleet is based on the principle of the maximum sustainable yield (MSY). This approach ensures that over time - under the given environmental conditions - the amount of fish taken from a stock does not significantly impair the reproduction process of the stock.   This principle ensures the sustainable use of stocks and provides the basis for an economically and environmentally viable fishing sector.

Landing obligation

The landing obligation principle constitutes an essential building block of the CFP, which has applied to all fisheries of regulated species in the North Sea, the North East Atlantic and the Baltic Sea since 1 January 2019.

The landing obligation stipulates that undersized fish from the target species and by-catches of other species have to be landed and may only be discarded at sea in certain exceptional, strictly-defined cases.

Thanks to these rules, the discards of undesired and undersized fish are reduced to a minimum so that unnecessary and unacceptable wasting of valuable marine resources is prevented. Due to a number of exceptions, however, the landing obligation has not yet been fully effective, which has led to repeatedly criticism. 

Multi-annual plans for individual sea basins

In order to provide relief for overexploited stocks and bring them back to a level that ensures the maximum sustainable yield, these general CFP elements are laid down in greater detail in so-called multi-annual plans for the individual sea basins, inter alia for the North and Baltic Seas. Multi-annual management plans set specific aims for sustainable management and, in particular, establish rules for the annual allocation of catch levels for each fishery.

Total allowable catches and quotas

The main fisheries policy measure to ensure sustainable stock management is the annual setting of total allowable catches (TAC) for individual fish stocks by the Fisheries Ministers of the EU Member States. As the condition of stocks of the same species may vary significantly depending on the fishing area and the prevailing influencing factors, the TAC is established for each maritime region separately for a certain period, generally for one calendar year.

In addition to the applicable provisions of the multi-annual plans, the TAC is based on scientific recommendations on the basis of biological studies of the fisheries, in particular those published regularly by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).

Many stocks, including most of the North Sea stocks, are managed jointly by the EU with the UK, Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. The respective agreements with these states are incorporated into the annual decisions on TACs and quotas, as are the results of further negotiations at the level of so-called regional fisheries organisations.

The fishing opportunities available to the EU are allocated to the EU Member States according to a fixed key, namely according to the principle of relative stability, which is an important pillar of the CFP and which guarantees all Member States a consistent percentage of the total allowable catches.

Technical measures

However, the establishment of TACs alone is not sufficient in order to ensure sustainable and environmentally friendly fisheries. It is therefore supplemented and supported by further technical measures.

These measures determine the areas in which fishing is permitted and what kind of fishing is permitted to ensure that only the intended fish end up in the net, and that juvenile fish and non-target species are, as far as is possible, not caught. The measures include:

• minimum mesh sizes for nets;
• minimum landing sizes;
• sanctuaries and closed seasons;
• limitations of by-catch;
• compulsory use of selective fishing gear; and
• measures to avoid damage to the maritime environment.

The CFP is subject to a regular comprehensive assessment to ensure that it can keep up with the current environmental and fisheries developments and can hence permanently secure the sustainable management of the stocks.

Released 24. Mar 2025 as article