Report: How the EU can Transition to Low Environmental Impact, Low Carbon, Socially Just Fishing

In principle, the allocation of fishing opportunities, e.g. quotas has the potential to ensure environmentally sustainable and socially just fisheries. The EU already has legislation in place for this purpose, but lacks both the political will and a clear mechanism for implementation, and as a result, has so far failed to realise the potential environmental and social benefits.

There is a solution: activating Article 17 of the Common Fisheries Policy to reallocate fishing quotas to the “forgotten” small-scale low-impact fleet, which for historic reasons has had restricted access to quota species. In the context of the climate and biodiversity crises, a just transition to a low-carbon, low-impact EU fishing fleet is critical. This report proposes criteria and processes which the European Commission and member states could harness in order to enable a transition to a more ecologically, socially and economically sustainable fishing industry.