The European Social Partners in Fisheries – which includes the European Transport Workers Federation, European Farmers, and fishing trade body Europêche – are warning the European Commission that new Mediterranean fishing proposals could be costly for coastal communities.
The European Commission recently presented updates to 2026 fishing opportunities in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, which it said were intended to recognize fishers’ conservation efforts while preserving the sustainability of fish stocks. The debate over taking up those updates is taking place on 11 and 12 December.
“The proposal seeks to balance essential conservation measures with social and economic considerations. The goal is to continue the recovery of fish stocks under the Western Mediterranean multiannual management plan, while maintaining fishing days at 2024 levels,” the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries said in a release.
Social Partners in Fisheries decried the “balanced” approach taken by the commission and said it will hit certain fishers much harder than others, with roughly 65 percent fewer fishing days for trawlers in France and Spain and 64 percent fewer days for trawlers in Italy. Without compensatory measures, there is a baseline of 9.6 fishing days per vessel per year, according to the organization.
“These cuts come despite the already significant sacrifices made by fishers to rebuild stocks. These efforts have been acknowledged in the FAO–GFCM’s ‘State of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries (2025),’ which notes significant improvements and fish populations increase in several stocks,” the groups said.
That report by the FAO found overfishing in the Mediterranean and Black seas has dropped to some of the lowest levels in a decade, with multiple key stocks showing signs of recovery. The report, which covered 120 stocks, found overfishing dropped from 87 percent in 2013 to 52 percent in 2023, while fishing mortality has dropped 50 percent and biomass has increased 25 percent.
“Yet, instead of consolidating this progress through balanced, predictable, and socially just measures, the Commission proposes a package that the sector widely considers economically unsustainable,” Social Partners in Fisheries said. “Even with the Commission’s proposed compensation scheme to recover fishing days through additional conservation measures, the impact in regions such as Catalonia, the Western Mediterranean, and the Strait of Sicily, would be severe and disproportionate.”
The move to reduce fishing in the Mediterranean comes on the heels of an NGO Oceana Europe report which claims bottom-trawling operations in the Western Mediterranean Sea are “barely profitable,” and uses that to make the argument the fleet is too large.
Social Partners in Fisheries said the proposals by the European Commission may end up shrinking the fleet – by costing thousands of fishers their livelihoods.
“Fishers warn that these reductions amount to an invitation to push companies and workers out of the sector, accelerating a process already visible in many coastal areas where young people are leaving the profession and communities are losing their economic base,” they said.
The group requested clearer answers from the European Commission before it makes a decision, including on whether the 2026 proposal has been accompanied by a socioeconomic study on its impacts on workers.
“The European Social Partners urge the Commission and EU Fisheries Ministers, who will negotiate the final package on 11 – 12 December, to adopt a balanced, realistic and socially sustainable approach,” they said.
