Call to European Commissioner Sinkevicius: Preserve EU seas from overfishing - do not delete the last remaining safeguards

The Baltic Sea ecosystem is in severe distress and its major commercial fish stocks have never been in such poor condition – with several of them collapsed or on the verge of collapse. Other fish stocks in the North Sea and in the Western Waters are also severely depleted, following consecutive years of overfishing. Despite this critical undisputed situation, the European Commission proposal of 6 December 2023 proposes to delete one of the most important safeguards to prevent fish stocks from collapsing, Article 4(6) of the Baltic and North Sea multiannual Plans, and Article 4(7) of the Western Waters multiannual plan.

For this reason, ClientEarth sent on behalf of the 11signatory NGOs, a letter to the European Commissioner of Environment, Sinkevicius, to express our concerns and to request a meeting.