Today’s outcome means MEPs in the European Parliament's Committee on Fisheries (PECH) have flouted their duty to end overfishing by 2020 at the latest, which they endorsed back in 2013 under the legally-binding Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

Lasse Gustavsson, executive director of Oceana Europe, released the following statement after the European Parliament voted today: “Members of the European Parliament are not only undermining the law, but they are also putting at risk the future of fishing in the Western Mediterranean. With the plan as it stands now, there will be less Mediterranean fish on the tables in France, Italy and Spain, fewer jobs in the fishing industry and destructive fishing methods will continue to destroy the oceans and marine life. If the European Parliament wants to uphold the law, they will soon have no other option than to close fisheries in order to avoid an irreversible collapse of fish stocks. How will they explain that to their citizens?”  Eight out of ten fish stocks in the Western sub-region of the Mediterranean are overfished, including important species like hake, mullets and shrimps.