ScienceInsider

The BBC reports that the European Commission will issue a report on Wednesday that member nations need to cut their fishing fleets to deal with overfishing. According to the BBC:

Across the EU, fleet capacity has come down, the commission says, but only about 2-3% per year. Meanwhile, technological improvements are making boats 2-3% more efficient every year - so the capacity reductions are having little effect.

The commission's scientifically derived proposals on sustainable catch levels are routinely revised upwards when EU environment ministers meet, traditionally in late December, to set quotas for the year following.

The report suggests that one fix could be transferable quotas, an approach that a recent paper in Science showed has been successful in preventing the collapse of fish stocks. It also proposes cutting subsidies and implementing tougher penalties.

—Erik Stokstad