Setting total allowable catches (TACs) for European fish stocks above those advised by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea does not necessarily mean that stocks are being overfished (see Nature 528, 435; 2015).

The status of assessed stocks is in fact improving in some European Union regions that are managed through TACs (north-east Atlantic, North Sea, Baltic Sea), although overfishing is still evident in the Mediterranean and Black seas (see go.nature.com/ojr1ue). These trends indicate that we know how to achieve sustainable fisheries.

Sustainable yields and the political will to achieve them will ultimately determine the socio-economic viability of the fishing industry. Although short-term socio-economic factors often drive EU fisheries policy (see J. Casey et al. Nature 530, 160; 2016), there are alternatives. In the United States, for example, these factors may be used only to reduce quotas, not increase them (Magnuson–Stevens Act, 2007).