"TAC-ING" on Coherence: Achieving Sustainable Baltic Sea Fisheries Management by Hooking Precautionary Science and Greater Transparency in EU Total Catch Negotiations

Authors

• Patrick Seroogy

Document Type

Article

Abstract

This article argues that what makes the difference in success between these two regimes is how strictly the scientific advice underlying catch limits the advice is adhered to, and the influences allowed unto decisionmakers in the catch limit negotiation process. Whereas the United States uses the scientific advice about the MSY as a strict upper limit in determining annual catch limits, the EU does not. This allows stakeholders in the EU’s CFP governance, in particular fishing industry actors, to influence regulators to raise TACs above adequately precautionary levels in the name of “balancing” sustainable fishing with short-term economic interests. The United States precludes the effect of such influence over catch limits by its strict adherence to scientific advice in the process. There are unique stressors on the Baltic Sea, particularly eutrophication and pollution, that amplify the impact of overfishing more compared to other marine ecosystems. However, the failure to “fully implement” the CFP legislation has been a consistent one –the subject of both acknowledgement by the EU as a primary cause of overfishing in the Baltic and of equivalent criticism by non-governmental organizations focusing on Baltic fisheries.

First Page

91

Recommended Citation

Patrick Seroogy, "TAC-ING" on Coherence: Achieving Sustainable Baltic Sea Fisheries Management by Hooking Precautionary Science and Greater Transparency in EU Total Catch Negotiations, 31 Ocean & Coastal L.J. 91 (2026).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.mainelaw.maine.edu/oclj/vol31/iss1/5