Over the last decade, the EU Fishing and Aquaculture sector generated on average an added value of EUR 6.6 billion and about 165 000 jobs on yearly basis.

As of 2022, the EU is the eighth largest producer of fishery and aquaculture products, covering around 2% of global production.

Capture fisheries production has been relatively stable globally since the late 1980s, fluctuating between 86 and 93 million tonnes/ year. By contrast, world aquaculture production has been growing by 5.2 % from 2000 to 2022, up to 94 million tonnes.

In the Northeast Atlantic, reduced fishing pressure improved the status of stocks in recent years. 79.4 % of the assessed stocks were fished within biologically sustainable levels in 2021.

In the Mediterranean and Black Seas, only 37.5 % of the stocks were within biologically sustainable levels in 2021.