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Fisheries & Seafood | 17 July 2025

Briefing Series “Recommendations to the EU and the UK on the setting of fishing opportunities” – Briefing 3 of 11: “Best available” is not good enough - addressing shortcomings in the current scientific advice
Fisheries & Seafood
Europe

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Briefing Series “Recommendations to the EU and the UK on the setting of fishing opportunities” – Briefing 3 of 11: “Best available” is not good enough - addressing shortcomings in the current scientific advice

This Briefing is part of the joint Briefing Series “Recommendations to the EU and the UK on the setting of fishing opportunities”, co-signed by 29 organisations (including environmental NGOs and recreational representatives), which presents our key recommendations to EU and UK decision-makers regarding the setting of recovery-focused, precautionary and ecosystem-based fishing opportunities. This particular Briefing is also endorsed by the Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE), the European Anglers Alliance, Baltic Salmon Fund and Baltic Salmon Rivers Association. 

Fully recovery-focused, precautionary and ecosystem-based scientific advice is needed to form the bedrock of a healthy, resilient and productive ocean that can support thriving, sustainable fisheries and coastal communities. However, the current advice provided by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) on fishing opportunities – and fishery managers’ requests that guide the provision of such advice – do not fully reflect all relevant EU and UK legal requirements and policy objectives. This Briefing explains some fundamental shortcomings that must be urgently addressed to ensure that the scientific advice underpinning fisheries decisions is designed to boost stock recovery and safeguard ocean health. Concretely, we recommend that EU and UK decision-makers: 

  • Request ICES to  

  1. provide clarifications of shortcomings in the advisory approach;

  2. address any identified issues, and  

  3. provide interim recommendations on how the currently available advice can be used to meet all relevant legal requirements and objectives;

  • Explicitly recognize the identified shortcomings;
  • Work together and with ICES to develop a clear roadmap for how the shortcomings will be swiftly addressed; and
  • Apply additional precaution until fully recovery-focused and ecosystem-based advice is available (see Briefing 1), by setting fishing opportunities well below the catch levels presented at the top of the single-stock advice. 

Related links: 

Find the other 10 Briefings as part of the Briefing Series “Recommendations to the EU and the UK on the setting of fishing opportunities” here. 

Find a joint letter that was sent to EU Commissioner Kadis in April 2025 regarding shortcomings in the scientific advisory approach here. 

Find other files produced or co-signed by ClientEarth related to the annual negotiations on fishing opportunities from 2015 onwards here.