Fish dependence

EU fish stocks are in an unprecedentedly poor state yet fish consumption throughout Europe remains high. In a context of finite resources and growing populations, the current EU model is unsustainable. The EU’s increasing ‘fish dependence’ has implications for the sustainability of fish stocks in other countries, which are also overfished, and for the communities that depend on them.

The main message of this report is that rising fish consumption in a context of declining stocks is a model that is environmentally unviable and socially unfair. The EU has highly productive waters that have the potential to sustain a long-term and stable supply of fish, jobs and related social and economic benefits, but only if its fish resources are managed responsibly.

The reform of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) offers a unique opportunity to put the structures in place to turn this situation around. To transform the management of the EU’s marine resources, the new CFP needs to provide a policy framework that will restore marine ecosystems to healthy levels and deliver a fair allocation of resources internationally.

In order for this to happen, policymakers need to look beyond the short-term costs that could result from reform and give priority to the long-term benefits that healthy marine resources will provide.