Ocean lobby groups and NGOs have been left reeling following the latest European Commission proposal for Baltic fishing limits for 2021. While they welcome plans to preserve fish stocks as “promising”, the fishing limits for Western Baltic herring and other fish do not go anywher near far enough and have prompted grave concern that overfishing is still far too high, leaving the overfished population “with no chance to recover.”

The months ahead are considered a real “tipping point” by ocean environmentalists and advocates of stemming the extent of fishing in the Baltic. The European Commission’s latest proposal of Baltic fishing limits for 2021 includes revised total allowable catches (TACs) and continued 2020-implemented measures to protect fish populations. 

They include proposals to reduce the by-catch TAC by 70 percent for eastern cod, reduce the TACS by 11 percent for Western Baltic cod and reduce the total allowable catches by 50 percent for herring. Meanwhile, the EC plans to increase catches for sprat and salmon while maintaining current catch levels for plaice. 

“While the proposal by the Commission is a promising positive sign for several fish stocks in the Baltic, it is disappointing to see how Western Baltic herring will continue being overfished in 2021, ignoring for the third year in a row scientific recommendations to close its fishery,” highlights Andrea Ripol, Fisheries Policy Officer at ocean protection lobby group Seas At Risk. 

“We call on the Fisheries Council to live up to the challenge, end overfishing for all stocks as required by the Common Fisheries Policy and stop favoring short-term socio-economic gains over the long-term recovery of the Baltic Sea marine environment,” she underscores. 

Meanwhile, Vera Coelho, Senior Director of Advocacy at Oceana in Europe, sees that after “several years of bad decisions,” there are no easy choices left. “We call on EU Member States to save the Baltic Sea and to adopt the necessary reductions in catch limits, as well as the additional measures proposed by the Commission. This must be a real tipping moment to initiate the recovery of the Baltic Sea,” she stresses. 

Reeling in the fishing limitations
Each year, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) provides scientific advice for fishing limits in EU seas, which the Commission uses as the basis for its proposal for fishing opportunities. The Commission’s proposal details the restrictions on fishing of the following six fish:

• Eastern cod: Despite the Commission’s efforts for the past two years to revitalize the eastern cod population in the Baltic, its stock size has decreased substantially. The Commission now proposed to reduce the by-catch TAC by 70 percent. It will also maintain all previously implemented measures, including extending the existing spawning closure period in time and scope and banning recreational fishing in areas wher eastern Baltic cod is most present.
• Western Baltic cod: The Commission proposes to reduce the TACS by 11 percent and to maintain the 2020 spawning closure period in the entire area. This includes a limit for recreational fishers of five specimens per day and two specimens during the closure period. Moreover, in the deeper waters of the eastern part, the TAC use is limited to by-catches and recreational fishing continues to be forbidden.
• Plaice: Against the ICES’s advice allowing for an increase, the Commission proposes maintaining the TAC level unchanged to protect the cod stocks. As cod is an unavoidable by-catch in plaice fisheries, these are in poor condition.
• Sprat: Similarly to plaice, the ICES advice for sprat would allow for an increase. The Commission proposes to maintain the TAC level unchanged. This is because sprat and herring are caught in mixed fisheries, leading to the TAC for central Baltic herring to be decreased significantly. Moreover, sprat is a prey species for starving cod, which is “not in good condition,” the Commission details.
• Salmon: In line with the ICES advice, the Commission proposes to increase the TAC by 9 percent. However, based on the ICES advice, the Commission proposes to reduce the fishing levels for the Gulf of Finland by 10 percent.
• Herring: The Commission proposes to reduce the total allowable catches by 50 percent. For central herring, it further proposes a reduction of 36 percent in line with the ICES advice, as well as sustaining the TAC level for the Gulf of Bothnia. Meanwhile, the situation for Riga herring allows for an increase of the TAC by 15 percent, the Commission affirms.

The EU AGRIFISH Council will discuss the Commission proposal and decide on the 2021 TACs for Baltic fish stocks at the AGRIFISH Council meeting on October 19-20.