EAA co-signs Joint letter to European Commissioner Kadis regarding shortcomings in the scientific advice on fishing opportunities

The European Anglers Alliance (EAA) and 17 other NGOs – working on EU fisheries and environmental policies, have co-signed an open letter to Commissioner Costas Kadis calling for a comprehensive renewal and improvement of the Specific Grant Agreement (SGA) and the Framework Partnership Agreement (FPA) between the European Commission and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea(ICES) .

A timely reminder to Commissioner Kadis – why improved ICES advice is urgently needed

This letter comes at a critical moment as the EU Commission and ICES are currently discussing to renew both agreements. It is also the moment of the end-of -the-year Council of the EU discussions – during the Agriculture and Fisheries Council (AgriFish) of 11 & 12 December – to “aim to reach a political agreement on two Commission proposals on fishing opportunities” for the Atlantic and the North Sea for 2026 (and in the case of some fish stocks, also for 2027 and 2028).
In their letter, signatories call for both agreements between ICES and the Commission to “lay a solid foundation for requests for fully rebuilding-focused, sufficiently precautionary and ecosystem-based advice on fishing opportunities, including explicit integration of the need to reach Good Environmental Status”.
 
The coalition argues that the current scientific advice framework on fisheries opportunities established between the European Commission and the ICES is not explicitly designed to rebuild fish stocks, be sufficiently precautionary (across all relevant timescales and beyond the single-stock perspective); and safeguard wider ecosystem health.
In this letter, signing organisations follow up on the April 2025 letter , highlighting once again that the current ICES advice on fishing opportunities does not fully reflect all relevant legal requirements and policy objectives applicable to the EU or the core aims of the European Ocean Pact, including the goal to maintain a “healthy, resilient and productive ocean”. Concretely, the current ICES advice is not geared towards
  1. Recovering fish populations within a concrete timeframe and maintaining them above sustainable levels in the near future;
  2. Preventing fish populations from, or minimising the risk of, falling outside safe biological limits, despite legal safeguards in the EU’s Multi-Annual Plans (MAPs); or
  3. Delivering on all relevant elements of “Good Environmental Status” (GES) under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), such as healthy population structures and/or food web integrity (e.g. leaving enough food in the sea for other marine life).
As said, with their letter, the 18 organisations want to underline that the ICES scientists are currently not issuing any rebuilding advice to quickly recover stocks that are in a bad state.
To conclude, signing parties welcome Mr Kadis observation that the MSY advice – provided by ICES – is not precautionary advice, but the absolute maximum harvest for a given stock. The EAA – together with other co-signing organisations – expect that in the future ICES headline stock advice will make this point very clear, as it heavily influences fisheries management.

Read the joint letter via this link

Updating the MSY Framework: a crucial step for robust & modern scientific advice

The Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) has been a central element of global fisheries management since the mid-20th century and is a cornerstone of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).
Fishing at MSY levels aims at catching the maximum quantity of fish that can safely be removed from the stock while maintaining its capacity to produce sustainable yields in the long term. To achieve this, the requirement is to optimise growth of the fished population and ensure that there is adequate reproduction to ensure recruitment of young fish (LINK).
The European Anglers Alliance (EAA) has repeatedly raised its concerns on the limitations of the MSY paradigm since many years – including the organisation of a dedicated event inside the EU Parliament on this subject, highlighting that MSY:
  • Does not account for the age and size distribution of exploited stocks;
  • Conflicts with the objectives of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD); and
  • Risks undermining long-term sustainability by favouring tonnage-driven fisheries management over stock structure and biodiversity.

Conclusion

The upcoming renewal of the EU–ICES agreements represents a pivotal moment for transitioning from a narrow MSY-based scientific approach towards a truly ecosystem-based management system — one capable of rebuilding fish stocks, protecting biodiversity and supporting both commercial and recreational fisheries.
The EAA stands ready to work with the EU institutions towards a management that ensures healthy fish age and size structures, resilient populations and a productive ocean for future generations.

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