The European Commission proposed on Tuesday 29 August to ban fishing for marine eel in the Baltic Sea next year. The ban would apply to both commercial and recreational fishing.
These precautionary measures form part of the Commission’s proposals on fishing opportunities in the Baltic in 20-18 (see other articles).
The European eel stock has been at a historically low level since the late 1990s. It is listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Eel in critical situation. In 2007 the EU adopted measures to allow this stock to recover. However, International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) advice published in May 2017 indicates that these measures have not been sufficient and the stock is still in a critical state. The Commission, therefore, proposes to ban all marine eel fisheries in the EU waters of the Baltic Sea for 2018, a ban applying to commercial and recreational fishing. It also means that any eels caught accidentally will have to be released immediately.
Review of eel regulation? In addition, the Commission is planning to evaluate the regulation on the recovery of the European eel stock. Recent data have shown that 57% of silver eels that reach the open seas are caught by commercial and recreational fishing in the Baltic Sea. The eel regulation obliges member states that operate eel fisheries in EU waters to reduce efforts and/or catches by 50% compared to the 2004-2006 average, unless their management plans also cover marine waters. None of the Baltic Sea member states achieve that objective.
In view of the state of the stock, the 50% reduction in effort or catches prescribed in the regulation “is not in line with the objectives of the 2013 CFP (common fisheries policy) for sustainable exploitation of resources”, states the Commission. Given the ICES advice, all fisheries that target spawners should cease until there is a clear evidence of improvement of the state of the stock.
Given this severe ICES advice, it is therefore appropriate, pending longer term solutions, to prohibit any fishery of European eel in the Baltic Sea in 2018, the Commission argues.
The annual recruitment of glass eel to European waters in 2016 remained low, according to scientists, ranging from 2.7% to 10.7% depending on the area. The annual recruitment of young yellow eel to European waters was 21% of the 1960-1979 level, which means that today there is almost 80% less recruitment compared to the 1960-1979 level.
European fisheries ministers will set the 2018 quotas for the Baltic Sea at the Council meeting on 9 and 10 October.
In the Baltic sea, two member states take the lion’s share of the eel catch. Denmark reported 563 tonnes and Sweden 364 tonnes in 2014-2015. Catches reported by these two member states also include waters other than the Baltic Sea. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)