1.2.10.15.1.1

Summary

Proportion of fish stocks sustainably exploited

This indicator provides the percentage of fish stocks, in the North-East Atlantic and adjacent seas (FAO area 27), the Mediterranean and Black Sea region (FAO area 37) and in EU waters overall (FAO areas 27 and 37 pooled together), that is sustainably exploited. Values are calculated each year by the Joint Research Centre and reviewed by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF), and further provided by Eurostat.

The indicator is based only on the fish stocks that have been assessed with quantitative methods

Source last updated on: 01-04-2026
Up to date Checked weekly

Links

Other policies

Documentation

Indicator: Proportion of fish stocks sustainably exploited
Indicator name

Tag: env_bio5
Indicator abbreviated name

Definition: Percentage of fish stocks evaluated using a full analytical stock assessment method (quantitative) and for which the estimated fishing mortality (F) is below or equal to the fishing pressure that will lead the stock’s exploitation to the maximum sustainable yield in the long term (Fmsy)
Definition describing what the indicator measures

Unit: % of fish stocks sustainably exploited
Measurement unit of the indicator values

Spatial coverage: EU waters including North-East Atlantic and adjacent seas (FAO area 27) and the Mediterranean and Black Sea region (FAO area 37)
Geographic area covered by the indicator

Temporal coverage: 2022
Time coverage of the indicator from first to most recent available year

Update frequency: Every year
Frequency at which indicator is updated

DPSIR: State
DPSIR classification framework: Driver, Pressure, State, Impact, or Response

Method: 1) Run a benchmark assessment for the stocks of interest to identify a model to perform stock assessment and set the model’s parameters. Derive the reference points for (among others) the fishing pressure that enables the stock to be exploited at the maximum sustainable yield on the long term (Fmsy). Work is conducted by a dedicated Expert Working Group for each stock organised by either the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)/Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF)/General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM). 2) Using the benchmarked assessment, run an update assessment annually for each stock. Work is conducted by Expert Working Groups in charge at either ICES/STECF/GFCM. 3) Publish update stock assessment outputs including fishing mortality in scientific reports. 4) Export estimated fishing mortalities (F) from ICES/STECF / GFCM databases. 5) Compare estimated F outputs to associated Fmsy and count the number of stocks for which F>Fmsy and the number of stocks for which F≤Fmsy. 6) Estimate the percentage of stocks for which F≤Fmsy Details of the protocol are presented in Annex I of the report mentioned in the reference section.
Description of the main methodological steps used to calculate the indicator

Reference: Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF), Monitoring of the performance of the Common Fisheries Policy (STECF-adhoc-25-01) , Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2025, https://stecf.ec.europa.eu/document/download/8e2882e4-433c-4218-a0ed-9254bd334d6d_en.
Reference sources describing the indicator and method to calculate it (e.g. peer-reviewed articles, scientific/technical reports, webpages, other)

Producer: Joint Research Centre
Institution which produces the calculation of the indicator values

Provider: Eurostat
Institution supplying the indicator values, even if not the original producer of indicator values

Open source: True
Indicates whether calculation code is openly available

Spatial scope (Member States): False
Whether the indicator is available at Member States level

Spatial scope (EU27): True
Whether the indicator is available at EU27 aggregated level

Spatial scope (global): False
Whether the indicator is available at global level

Accuracy uncertainties: None
Comment on data accuracy, limitations, and uncertainty

Comments: None
Additional remarks

Storage

Datasets

Tag: ICES
Abbreviated designation of the dataset

Dataset name/description: Stock assessment outputs provided by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)
Full name and/or description of the dataset

Reference: ICES Stock Assessment Database, Copenhagen, Denmark - International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, (https://standardgraphs.ices.dk) accessed 12 January 2025
Reference sources describing the dataset

Date: 2025-01-12
Release date of the dataset in the format yyyy-mm-dd

Format: Tabular
Format of the dataset (e.g. tabular, raster, vector, or other)

Spatial coverage: Northeast Atlantic
Geographic area covered by the dataset

Temporal coverage: 2003-2023
Time coverage of the dataset from first to most recent available year

Resolution: None
Resolution of the dataset

Scale: None
Scale of the dataset

Storage
Webpage link where the dataset can be downloaded

Licence of use: Data from published advice can be downloaded, please refer to ICES Data Policy for full conditions and guidance on citation. When publishing results from the database the minimum citation should include: ICES Stock Assessment Database. Copenhagen, Denmark. ICES. [accessed date]. https://standardgraphs.ices.dk
Licensing information related to the dataset

Access data policy: See guidance published on https://www.ices.dk/data/guidelines-and-policy/Pages/ICES-data-policy.aspx
Description of the access data policy of the dataset

Tag: STECF
Abbreviated designation of the dataset

Dataset name/description: Stock assessment outputs provided by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF)
Full name and/or description of the dataset

Reference: Osio, C., Gibin, M., Mannini, A., Villamor, A. and Orio, A., The Mediterranean and Black Sea STECF Stock Assessment Database, EUR 29294 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2018, ISBN 978-92-79-88954-7, doi:10.2760/559579, JRC112485
Reference sources describing the dataset

Date: 2025-01-01
Release date of the dataset in the format yyyy-mm-dd

Format: Tabular
Format of the dataset (e.g. tabular, raster, vector, or other)

Spatial coverage: EU waters of the Mediterranean and Black Sea
Geographic area covered by the dataset

Temporal coverage: 2003-2022
Time coverage of the dataset from first to most recent available year

Resolution: None
Resolution of the dataset

Scale: None
Scale of the dataset

Storage
Webpage link where the dataset can be downloaded

Licence of use: The data are made available in the interests of transparency and can be freely used for further analyses provided the source is acknowledged
Licensing information related to the dataset

Access data policy: Free access
Description of the access data policy of the dataset

Values

Values by FAO major fishing area
FAO Major Fishing Area	Value
Atlantic, Northeast	71
Mediterranean and Black Sea	53

Graphs

Source: Eurostat

EU 27

63.0%