A new open-access study published in Current Opinion in Environmental Science & Health proposes a framework to better asses whether fisheries are truly sustainable by looking beyond fish stocks alone, bringing together environmental, socio-economic and governance aspects.

The research, carried out within the European projects SEA4Future and MOIRAI, brings together scientific literature and data from European institutions to develop a framework based on 51 indicators. These indicators can be used to assess fisheries at different levels, from marine regions and countries to individual species and stocks.

The framework was tested in two contrasting regions: the Bay of Biscay and Atlantic Iberian Coast and the Western Mediterranean. The results showed clear differences, with 61% of assessed stocks in the Western Mediterranean considered overexploited, compared with 16% in the Atlantic. European hake was among the most critical cases in the Mediterranean, with fishing pressure reaching 3.5 times the level considered compatible with maximum sustainable yield.

The study also highlights that sustainable fisheries depend on more than environmental conditions. Employment, economic value, governance, monitoring and the ability of the sector to attract younger workers all play a role in its long-term resilience.

By bringing these different elements together, the framework could help identify sustainability hotspots, compare fisheries across regions and provide a stronger evidence base for fisheries management and policy.

Read the open-access article: here.

Photo Credit: Nicolas Job / Ocean Image Bank