Moving the goalposts: EU stocks must now be built above MSY

Wording of parts of the recent agreement on the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) reform between the Council of Ministers and European Parliament confirm a strong environmental bias.

The document, seen by IntraFish, said fish stocks should be built up to levels above the biomass levels that can produce maximum sustainable yields (MSY).

This is in stark contrast to the proclaimed aim of "attaining MSY" for all fisheries the EU Commission has made its mission for the past 10 years.

MSY levels should be achieved by 2015 “where possible” and gradually for all stocks “under no circumstances” later than 2020.

MSY