Along Europe’s coasts, the fishing sector has arrived at a tipping point. The symptoms are unmistakable to anyone watching European maritime affairs: an ageing fishing fleet and a workforce with a critical lack of generational renewal; intensifying competition for coastal space; and substantial reductions in catches with increasing scarcity of fish in coastal waters. 

At the centre of this struggle sits the small-scale coastal fleet (SSCF) – Europe’s forgotten fleet. Accounting for approximately 77% of all active EU fishing vessels, these boats catch a modest 6.4% of total EU catch by weight, while yielding 16.6% of the landed value.

They are the antithesis of high volume, industrial-scale extraction, providing instead the cultural and economic backbone of our coastal communities, delivering 50% of the jobs in fishing, and anchoring populations in remote areas. The small-scale coastal fleet remain key players in the provision of low impact seafood while contributing to Europe’s food self-sufficiency. Yet, as policymakers in Brussels sketch out the future of European waters, the small-scale sector finds itself caught between welcome strategic ambitions and a dangerous legislative manoeuvre. 

The Ambition of Vision 2040 

Just last week, the European Commission unveiled its long-awaited Vision 2040 for Fisheries and Aquaculture, charting a course within a 15-year framework for the transition of the fishing sector to a brighter future. On paper, Brussels has absorbed key demands long-voiced by coastal advocates. The Commission contends that economic viability cannot exist without healthy seas, and has committed  to backing a transition towards low-impact, selective fishing. 

For small-scale fishers organisations like the Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE), representing  approximately 10,000 small-scale fishers across 18 Member States, the Commission’s prognosis is a step in the right direction and a good signal, with promised targeted initiatives for small-scale operations, including in the forthcoming European Ocean Act and a commitment for a Blue Generational Renewal Strategy in 2027, among other key proposals.

However, strategic visions are fundamentally non-binding. Without binding regulatory teeth and targeted funding, strategic roadmaps risk remaining well-intentioned rhetoric that changes little on the water.