EU uses up its annual fish budget today, says study

EUROPE is consuming far more fish than its waters can now provide, leaving it reliant on fish caught elsewhere in the world, a report has claimed.

According to the study by London-based think tank NEF and campaigners Ocean2012, today is the point at which the EU blows its annual “budget” for fish, with consumption exceeding the amount sourced from depleted European stocks this year.

If the EU were only to consume fish from its own waters it would run out 189 days into the year, the report said, as almost half the continent’s fish consumption depends on produce from non-EU waters.