"Balanced approach" between fishermen's conservation efforts and the sustainability of vital fish stocks

The European Commission has presented updates to its proposal on fishing opportunities for 2026 in the Mediterranean and Black Sea. The proposal promotes a balanced approach that recognizes fishermen's conservation efforts while ensuring the sustainability of vital fish stocks. The next steps include discussions at Agrifish, where the Council of the EU will further discuss the proposal with a view to reaching a political agreement on fishing opportunities for 2026 in the Mediterranean and Black Sea.

As reported in the official press release from Brussels, the proposal aims to balance essential conservation measures with social and economic considerations. The goal is to continue the recovery of fish stocks within the framework of the multiannual management plan for the Western Mediterranean, maintaining fishing days at 2024 levels.

Encouraging scientific data from the Western Mediterranean, the statement emphasizes, indicate positive trends, such as the recovery of stock biomass and a decrease in fishing mortality, demonstrating the beneficial effects of the management plan. However, most fish populations are still subject to overexploitation.

To address this problem, the Commission proposes reductions in fishing effort to achieve sustainable mortality levels and corrective measures for fish stocks within safe biological limits. In this context, the Commission supports the need for reductions for vulnerable stocks, particularly the Norway lobster populations in Catalonia and Sardinia.

The Commission proposes reducing the initial reductions for fishermen who do not target Norway lobster, promoting a balanced approach. Furthermore, the Commission proposes to continue to rely on the 2025 compensation scheme for the 2026 fishing opportunities. This will allow fishermen to implement additional conservation measures and recover fishing days, supporting the recovery of fish stocks and strengthening the effectiveness of the management plan.
Respecting international commitmentsThe proposal also includes fishing opportunities in line with the latest decisions of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean.
These measures are essential for the implementation of regionally agreed management plans in the Mediterranean and Black Sea and concern catch and effort limits for key species such as small pelagic and demersal species in the Adriatic Sea, black sea bream in the Alboran Sea, turbot in the Black Sea and deep-sea shrimp in the Strait of Sicily, the Ionian Sea and the Levantine Sea.

The proposal, the statement adds, underscores the EU's commitment to sustainable fisheries management through European and international collaboration. The updates are based on the latest scientific recommendations from the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) and the results of the 48th annual session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM).