The E.U. fishing fleet could make an ambitious transition away from fossil fuels without increasing existing fleet-capacity ceilings, according to a study commissioned by environmental group Seas At Risk.
Under the bloc's Common Fisheries Policy, the European Union maintains capacity ceilings for member states’ commercial fishing fleets. The total size of fishing fleets is capped based on gross tonnage (GT) and engine power (kW), and the European Commission uses an entry-exit system to ensure new fishing vessels may only enter a nation’s fleet when equivalent capacity in GT and kW is removed. The system is intended to maintain a stable balance between fleet capacity and available fishing opportunities.
The capacity ceiling has become increasingly relevant to fisheries decarbonization because replacing diesel propulsion with lower-carbon alternatives can require additional onboard space. Methanol, for example, requires larger fuel tanks and additional safety space, while battery-electric systems require substantial storage. Hydrogen and ammonia can create still greater space requirements.
According to Seas At Risk, that has led some to call for the E.U. to relax capacity rules in order to enable decarbonization. However, the modeling used in an analysis conducted by research organization Profundo shows that sufficient unused capacity exists within national fleet ceilings to accommodate the additional gross tonnage required under the decarbonization pathways examined.
The analysis also claims that under the most ambitious scenario, the E.U. fleet as a whole will remain below its existing capacity limits. The only exception to this is Poland, where the modeled fleet exceeds the national ceiling under the most ambitious pathway. Seas At Risk described the projected excess as marginal and unlikely to constitute a practical constraint.
Seas At Risk Senior Fisheries Policy Officer Bruno Nicostrate said the study presents clear evidence that the E.U. fishing fleet can decarbonize without increasing fleet capacity ceilings. Consequently, he insists there’s no need to weaken this “important safeguard” or to reform the CFP. Indeed, Seas At Risk is urging E.U. policymakers to keep existing capacity limits in place.
The priority must be to accelerate the transition toward low-impact, low-carbon fisheries, he said.
Furthermore, Seas At Risk reasoned that countries like Poland with particularly tight capacity margins should use the transition to address existing imbalances between fishing capacity and fishing opportunities. Nicostrate told SeafoodSource this could include developing exit plans for fleet segments where capacity is already excessive, supporting a shift toward more selective and lower-impact fishing gears and phasing out fisheries that primarily catch fish for non-human consumption.
“These measures would reduce pressure on fish populations and create additional capacity within the existing fleet limits, helping ensure that decarbonization can proceed without creating unintended barriers or requiring changes to the Common Fisheries Policy,” he said.
With Profundo’s modeling assuming the current mix of fishing methods broadly remains in place, Nicostrate suggested the results could become even more favorable if the energy transitions were accompanied by changes in how fishing is carried out.
“Techniques that use less fuel, particularly those that reduce dependence on towing heavy gear, would lower overall energy demand and could reduce the need for larger fuel tanks, batteries, or other onboard energy-storage systems. This could further ease pressure on existing fleet-capacity ceilings,” he said.
However, Nicostrate acknowledged the study did not assess how such changes might affect catches.
“This is something to look into, but it was not part of that study since we were focusing on knowing the status of all fleet segments in all 22 E.U. coastal member states,” he said.
Nicostrate also suggested national fleet-management systems could be changed to make it easier to replace older, less efficient vessels with low-carbon vessels within existing capacity limits, including by making unused capacity available for well-designed replacement schemes where appropriate. Public financing should prioritize vessel replacement and retrofitting that delivers genuine emissions reductions, rather than subsidizing increases in fleet capacity, while investment in charging points and alternative fuel infrastructure should be accelerated in fishing ports, he added.
“The upcoming European Maritime, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Fund revision and the new E.U. multiannual budget should integrate this element in its future funding rules. However, it is crucial that the fishers the most in need are prioritized over large operators. Public support should also be mobilized to ease investment schemes in the sector to sustain not only the decarbonization of vessels but the transition to low-impact fisheries and the installation of new entrants in the business,” he said.
At the same time, fleet renewal should be linked to reducing overcapacity and fishing pressure in fleet segments where capacity exceeds available fishing opportunities, he said, explaining that this would create room for the transition while ensuring that decarbonization does not undermine the CFP’s safeguards against overfishing.
“Overall, the focus should be on better implementation of existing CFP provisions and targeted national measures, not on changing the capacity ceilings themselves and time-consuming revision of the CFP,” Nicostrate said.
