Globally, our goal is for the world’s wild fisheries to be managed sustainably, providing more fish in the sea, more food, and more prosperity for fishing communities. Key to achieving this is the alignment of incentives so that both the needs of people and the capacity of the oceans are respected. We help fishermen and communities secure rights to a reliable share of the catch based on scientific environmental limits: giving them a long-term stake in the health of their fisheries.
Goal: Establish Europe as a world leader in addressing climate change impacts on fisheries
Europe is key to the global fisheries picture. It is the world’s largest trader of fishery products, with the third largest fishing fleet, and we have had a presence here since 2011. Policy in Europe has already ensured many stocks are fished sustainably but some significant challenges remain, particularly as warming seas lead to shifting stock distributions.
Europe can establish itself as a world leader in climate-conscious fisheries management: increasing both fish populations and profits for European fishermen.
With diverse industrial and coastal fisheries across the continent, it is also an area where secure, rights-based approaches to managing fisheries can be applied and showcased at a range of scales.
Goal: Create proof points of successful small-scale fisheries management in Southern Europe
Rights based management of fisheries is already in place in many European Member States. We are working to extend the number and range of examples to deliver conservation outcomes and meet local economic and social goals. We help to share best practice Europe-wide through knowledge-sharing events, fishery exchanges, networking and targeted communications.
Spur the design and uptake of new governance and management approaches that are resilient to climate and political change by identifying key challenges and sparking vital discussions among science, policy, management and industry leaders. We will also undertake new scientific and bio-economic research and apply tools – such as ecosystem-based and Game Theoretical approaches – to fully understand and navigate Europe’s fishing future under climate change.
Support the design and implementation of policies at EU and Member State level that set the standard for sustainable fishing, enable fishermen to prosper and enable them to innovate, while upholding the conservation mandates of the CFP.
Swedish fishermen have led the charge to successfully implement the EU-wide Discard Ban with a new, rights-based management system for demersal fisheries that lets them match their quotas to their catch, and secures large fishing businesses and protects smaller players.
The North-East Atlantic hosts Europe’s flagship sustainable fisheries – but climate impacts are already being felt, and stock ranges and distribution are changing. We are working to envision a new, climate-resilient future for the region.
In Spain and Portugal, we work with our partner WWF to advance science-based co-management with secure fishing rights for small-scale coastal fisheries: putting fishing communities at the heart of management design and decision-making
