A fishing boat in Greek waters.
Photo: Adobe Stock.
The European Commission has adjusted its proposal for 2026 fishing opportunities in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, aiming to recognise conservation efforts by local fleets while continuing work to rebuild depleted stocks.
According to the Commission, scientific advice from the Western Mediterranean points to signs of improvement, including rising stock biomass and lower fishing mortality. However, most stocks remain overfished, and the Commission states that further effort reductions are required to reach sustainable mortality levels. Additional remedial measures are proposed for species assessed to be outside safe biological limits.
The updated plan maintains the overall number of fishing days at 2024 levels. It also proposes scaling back some of the earlier reductions for vessels that do not target Norway lobster, while suggesting further limits for Norway lobster stocks in Catalonia and Sardinia, which are considered particularly vulnerable.
The Commission also confirmed it intends to extend the 2025 compensation scheme into 2026. This mechanism allows fishers to recover fishing days by taking on additional conservation measures, a system the Commission says supports stock rebuilding and strengthens the effectiveness of the management plan.
Last year, after an initial controversial proposal to reduce fishing opportunities by 79%, and after significant pushback from Spain and other Mediterranean fishing states, the Commission later agreed to allocate the Mediterranean fleet between 120-130 fishing days, provided they applied compensatory management measures to ensure sustainability of fish stocks, including changing the mesh size of fishing nets used by trawlers, and installation of flying doors on vessels. It is this compromise which the Commission plans to continue into 2026.
The proposal also incorporates measures agreed at the latest session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean, including catch and effort limits for small pelagic and demersal species in the Adriatic, blackspot seabream in the Alboran Sea, turbot in the Black Sea, and deep-water shrimps across several subregions.
The Council of the EU will now examine the proposal at the December meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council (AGRIFISH), where fisheries ministers from across the EU will negotiate a political agreement on next year’s fishing opportunities.
