The marine environment is a common resource, and it is in the public interest that activities having an
impact on the state of fish stocks and the wider marine ecosystem are sustainably managed. Those who
fish in the most sustainable way should therefore be given preferential access to fish resources. Our
organisations propose that access to fish resources be based on a set of transparent criteria for
environmentally and socially sustainable practices, rewarding those who perform well against these
benchmarks. We therefore call on MEPs to amend the Commission proposal to ensure that:
The current proposal for a Transferable Fishing Concession (TFC) scheme is rejected as a mandatory, single-option solution (Article 27ff);
Member States have the flexibility to choose from a range of options on how to allocate access to fishing resources, as opposed to only one mandatory TFC scheme (Article 27); and
A criteria-based approach providing preferential access to the most sustainable operations is incorporated in relevant articles.
