Ending Overfishing in Europe's North-Western Waters

Abstract

Fisheries management in the European Union entered a new era in 2014 when the reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) came into force stipulating an end to overfishing in EU waters and the restoration of fish stocks. For the previous five years, The Pew Charitable Trusts and 192 other organizations worked through the OCEAN2012 coalition to push for this ambitious legislation. That effort succeeded, but overfishing continues. Even as ministers were agreeing to rebuild fish stocks under the new CFP, they were deciding annual fishing limits which exceed scientific advice. The reformed CFP must be swiftly and effectively implemented to achieve its aims. In particular, fisheries ministers must stick to the policy when setting fishing limits and advance sustainable fishing by 2015 where possible and on an incremental and progressive basis by 2020 at the latest.To help ensure the CFP's success, Pew has launched a campaign focused on ending overfishing in north-western European waters