The European Union and its Actions against Unsustainable Fishing

Introduction

The European Union (EU) recently announced its call for evidence for an EU strategy for fisheries external action. The main aim is to identify how its external fisheries action can integrate a range of instruments and policies to strengthen the three dimensions of sustainability (environmental, economic, and social) of fisheries activities conducted outside the EU. It also seeks to promote enhanced global and regional governance, thereby upholding a level playing field.[1]

The EU is the fifth-largest fisheries and aquaculture producer worldwide, contributing approximately 3% to global production[2], and it is the world’s largest market for seafood.[3] Fishing outside EU waters accounts for a significant part of the EU fishing sector and provides more than 20% of total EU catches.[4] The EU plays an important role in the African fisheries sector, for example, as a result of its sustainable fisheries partnership agreements with various African states.[5] EU nationals own and operate fishing vessels (some of which are registered under African flags) that conduct fishing activities in African waters, occasionally causing negative ecological and economic effects.[6]

The EU and its Member States are parties to various international legal instruments requiring them to ensure the sustainable management of marine resources and to cooperate with other states toward this end. These include the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 10 December 1982 (UNCLOS)[7] and the United Nations Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks of 4 August 1995 (UNFSA).[8]

In this context, the EU has adopted regulations allowing it to take measures against states that fail to comply with international obligations to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing or states that permit unsustainable fishing. Currently, the latter measures only apply to specific states. This article suggests that, in light of the EU’s strategy for external fisheries action, the scope of such measures should be expanded to include all states involved in unsustainable fishing.

EU IUU Regulation

Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 of 29 September 2008 establishes a Community system to prevent, deter, and eliminate IUU fishing (EU IUU Regulation).[9] It empowers the EU to take action against non-cooperating states, i.e., those that fail to discharge their duties under international law as flag, port, coastal, or market states in preventing IUU fishing. In Africa, for instance, Cameroon and Comoros are currently listed as non-cooperating states. Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Senegal have been pre-identified as non-cooperating states, receiving a 'yellow card', which implies that unless they address the failures identified by the European Commission, they may be formally listed as non-cooperating.[10]

The measures the EU may adopt under the EU IUU Regulation against non-cooperating states include:

• Prohibiting imports of fish products caught by vessels flying the flag of such states.
• Prohibiting EU operators from purchasing or reflagging fishing vessels to such states.
• Prohibiting the chartering of vessels to or from such states.
• Banning the export of EU fishing vessels or equipment to such states.
• Prohibiting private trade arrangements that allow EU-flagged vessels to fish under the jurisdiction of such states.
• Banning joint fishing operations involving vessels from both the EU and those states.
• Suspending or terminating bilateral fisheries agreements with such states.
• Refusing to initiate negotiations for fisheries agreements with such states.
• Prohibiting EU nationals from owning, operating, or managing vessels flying the flag of such states.[11]

Although the regulation has global applicability, effective enforcement generally requires a nexus between the EU and the concerned state so that the measures that the EU can impose have effect. To date, the EU has primarily relied on trade-related measures. However, the regulation also provides tools to address the activities of EU nationals, especially in cases where EU-based beneficial owners may take advantage of weak enforcement in other states.[12] The EU should consider using the regulation more actively against its own nationals and vessels that support or profit from IUU fishing.

EU Unsustainable Fishing Regulation

Regulation (EU) No 1026/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on certain measures for the purpose of the conservation of fish stocks in relation to states allowing non-sustainable fishing (the EU Unsustainable Fishing Regulation)[13] allows the EU to adopt measures against states that allow unsustainable fishing of a 'stock of common interest'. This refers to a fish stock the geographical distribution of which makes it available to both the EU and third states and the management of which requires the cooperation between such states and the EU, in either bilateral or multilateral setting.

The regulation was used only once in 2013 to restrict imports and port access for Faroese fisheries targeting herring and mackerel.[14] In September 2024, the European Commission proposed amendments to the regulation to improve legal clarity and to reinforce the process for cooperation before and after the EU takes measures. [15] On 7 July 2025, the European Parliament adopted a legislative resolution calling for more extensive changes, including broader scope and clearer terminology to enhance the regulation’s effectiveness. [16]

A core concept in the regulation is the definition of unsustainable fishing. A state may be identified as allowing unsustainable fishing if:

(a)       it fails to cooperate in the management of a stock of common interest in full compliance with the provisions of the UNCLOS and the UNFSA, or any other international agreement or norm of international law; and

(b)       either

(i) it fails to adopt, implement or enforce necessary fishery management measures, including control measures, ensuring the effective conservation and management of stocks of common interest, including within the framework of a Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (RFMO)[17] or where agreed bilaterally or multilaterally; or

(ii) it adopts fishery management measures, such as quotas or discriminatory measures, without due regard to the rights, interests and duties of other countries and the Union, and those fishery management measures, when considered in conjunction with measures taken by other countries and the Union, lead to fishing activities which could result in the stock being in an unsustainable state; this condition is considered to be complied with also where the fishery management measures adopted by that country did not lead to the stock being in an unsustainable state solely due to measures adopted by others.[18]

Failure to cooperate' is defined as the failure by states to engage in good faith and have meaningful consultations, including within the framework of RFMOs, in which substantial effort is made with a view to reaching an agreement on the adoption of necessary fishery management measures. The revised regulation will include various examples of what constitutes a 'failure to cooperate'.

The measures that the EU can take under the EU Unsustainable Fishing Regulation against states that allow unsustainable fishing include:

• Import restrictions on fish from the stock of common interest or associated species that have been caught under the control of those states.
• Port access bans on vessels flying the flag of those states or on vessels transporting the relevant fish and fishery products.
• Prohibiting EU operators from purchasing from, or reflagging fishing vessels to such states.
• Prohibiting the chartering of vessels to or from such states.
• Banning the export of EU fishing vessels or equipment to such states.
• Prohibiting private trade arrangements that allow EU-flagged vessels to fish under the jurisdiction of such states.
• Banning joint fishing operations involving vessels from both the EU and those states. [19]

These measures mirror many of those under the EU IUU Regulation. However, it does, regrettably, not include a prohibition on EU nationals from owning, operating, or managing vessels flying the flag of such states.

Extending the Scope of the EU Unsustainable Fishing Regulation

Although the current regulation is limited to stocks of common interest, the EU could engage with states with whom it does not share such stocks but that allow unsustainable fishing more broadly. This includes cases where:

• The EU imports fish from a state that allows unsustainable fishing.
• EU vessels operate in such state’s waters.
• EU nationals own or operate vessels flagged to such state.

While there is some overlap between IUU fishing and unsustainable fishing, the terms are not interchangeable. For instance, a state may have legal regulations that do not meet international conservation standards. Fishing conducted under such regulations may not be IUU fishing, but it can still lead to resource depletion and breach the costal state's international obligations to protect marine resources,[20] such as Article 192 of UNCLOS, which obliges states to protect and preserve the marine environment, the UNFSA ,the rules of RFMOs as well as the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.[21]

The EU (and its Member States) may be obligated (as flag state, market state, or state of nationality) to act against IUU fishing. The EU IUU Regulation gives it a broader role in the fight against IUU fishing by creating the ability to take measures against states that in the view of the EU fail or do not do enough to challenge IUU fishing by their vessels, in waters under their jurisdiction or by their nationals. The EU IUU Regulation is based on the principle that all states have a duty to adopt appropriate measures to ensure sustainable management of marine resources and to cooperate with each other to this end. The measures that the EU can take against states that do not meet their obligations in relation to IUU fishing is one of the ways in which this principle can be addressed.

However, the same principle should apply to unsustainable fishing, even in cases where no stock of common interest exists, but where the involvement of the EU or its nationals could be considered as directly or indirectly supporting such unsustainable fishing activities, for example through the import of fish from such states, reflagging of vessels, private access agreements, joint operations of EU vessels and ownership of vessels flagged to that state.

If the scope of EU Unsustainable Fisheries Regulation would be broadened to all states, a state allowing unsustainable fishing activities could be defined as a state that fails to manage or fails to cooperate in the management of its marine resources in full compliance with the provisions of the UNCLOS and the UNFSA, or any other international agreement or norm of international law. The measures of the broadened EU Unsustainable Fishing Regulation should, as mentioned above in respect of the EU IUU Regulation, not be used only to restrict the import of fish from the states concerned, but also to prohibit EU nationals from taking advantage of the weaknesses in the states' regulations and their enforcement, by fishing in their waters, flagging vessel or owning vessels flagged to such states or by entering in joint fishing operations with persons in such states.

Conclusion

Given the EU’s status as a major consumer of fish and its nationals' extensive involvement in global fisheries, the EU has both a responsibility and an opportunity to play a leading role in preserving marine biodiversity. As part of its external fisheries strategy, it should not limit its efforts to combatting IUU fishing but should also address unsustainable fishing more broadly.

This requires more assertive application of both existing regulations, especially also in relation to the role of EU nationals, and the expansion of the EU Unsustainable Fishing Regulation to cover all states, not just those with common stocks. Through such actions, the EU can uphold its international obligations and strengthen global efforts to promote sustainable fisheries.

[1] https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/14633-EU-strategy-for-fisheries-external-action_en

[2] https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/en/map-week-world-fisheries-day-catches-country

[3] https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/eu-fish-stocks/

[4] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/119/international-fisheries-relations

[5] https://oceans-and-fisheries.ec.europa.eu/fisheries/international-agreements/sustainable-fisheries-partnership-agreements-sfpas_en

[6] https://ig.ft.com/eu-fishing/

[7] https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/unclos_e.pdf

[8] https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/fish_stocks_agreement/CONF164_37.htm

[9] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02008R1005-20240109

[10] https://oceans-and-fisheries.ec.europa.eu/document/download/dac17bdf-42cf-4525-884c-44050b31d6a0_en?filename=illegal-fishing-overview-of-existing-procedures-third-countries_en.pdf

[11] Article 30 EU IUU Fishing Regulation.

[12] See for example https://www.iuuwatch.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Beneficial-Ownership-briefing_Final.pdf and https://europe.oceana.org/blog/who-profits-from-fishing-operations-in-europe/

[13] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32012R1026

[14] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_13_441

[15] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52024PC0407

[16] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-10-2025-0150_EN.pdf

[17] RFMOs are international organisations establishing binding measures for conservation and sustainable management of highly migratory or straddling fish species.

[18] Based on the amended language suggested by the European Parliament.

[19] See Art 4 of the EU Unsustainable Fishing Regulation

[20] Such as those contained in Arts 61-64 UNCLOS/

[21] https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/e6cf549d-589a-5281-ac13-766603db9c03