The European Commission released the 2025 annual economic report on the European Union fishing fleet (link to report), projecting operating profits of €567 million for the EU fleet in 2025. This figure shows a positive trend, surpassing the results of 2023 and 2024.
The report provides data on the EU fleet performance in 2023 as well as projections for 2024 and 2025.
There were 53 300 active vessels employing more than 155 200 people in 2023. The EU fishing fleet landed about 3.39 million tonnes of fish, with a value of approximately EUR 6.13 billion in 2023.
Costas Kadis, European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, said:
“I’m glad to see a positive trend in the EU fleet performance, which is linked to moving in the right direction with sustainable fisheries. Achieving this brings real benefits to the EU fleet and supports our coastal communities. When we stick to science-based quotas and let fish stocks recover, we see improvements in the economic health of our fleet and better remuneration for those working in the sector. While these developments are promising, it’s important to remember that challenges remain, and we must continue working together to tackle them and keep our sector thriving.”
Key drivers of improvement
According to the report, several factors contribute to this positive economic trend:
Progress in achieving sustainable fish stocks: better managed fish stocks tend to lead to larger fish populations, resulting in bigger catches and increased profits.Adjustment in fishing capacity: when there are fewer operating vessels, each vessel catches more fish and earns higher profits, especially in fleets that have better aligned their capacity with fishing opportunities.decrease in fuel prices and consumption: lower operating costs contribute directly to higher profits. Over the period 2013-2023, the fuel consumption per kg of fish caught has declined by 11%. The Commission will support efforts to further decarbonise and modernise the fleet to reduce fuel consumption, with the support of the Energy Transition Partnership for the fisheries and aquaculture sector.
While these factors are behind the positive performances of the EU fleet, it is important to underline the key role played by conservation policies in fisheries and the energy efficiency in the fishing sector.
As indicated in the report, evidence shows that conservation is economically beneficial: when fisheries stick to science-based quotas and allow fish stocks to recover, the economic health of the fleet improves significantly and remuneration in fisheries improve too.
Remaining challenges
Despite the positive trend in the fleet economy performances, the report highlights persistent challenges faced by the EU fishing fleet, including:
Structural problems: Further capacity adjustment is required in fleets that depend on overexploited stocks as these fleets experience poor economic performance and job losses.Aging vessels: Many ships in the EU fleet are old and inefficient.Generational renewal: The industry is struggling to attract young people to take up fishing careers due to low profitability and low wages in many fleets.Regional disparities: the economic performance and salaries of the crew tend to mirror the stock status and overcapacity in the different sea basins and fisheries, causing regional disparities.Next steps
The report will feed the reflection on the Vision 2040 for fisheries and aquaculture that the European Commission will propose in 2026, as announced in the European Ocean Pact.
Background
The annual economic report (AER) of the EU fishing fleet is the most complete and up-to-date compilation of information and statistics on the economic performance of the EU fishing fleets.
The 2025 report has been produced by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) and the European Commission.
More information
2025 Annual economic report on the European Union fishing fleet
Together with the report, a booklet that summarises its main findings has been published