After more than 20 hours of tough talks, EU fisheries ministers in Luxembourg managed to reach agreement in the morning of Tuesday 10 October on fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea in 2018, including a smaller decrease in quotas than proposed by the European Commission for eastern cod. The ministers postponed talks about banning eel fishing in the Baltic until the Council meeting in December.
Fisheries Commissioner Karmenu Vella said the agreement met the demands and ambitions he had set in terms of sustainability and social and economic impacts. Above all, it respects the Baltic Plan, added the Commissioner. This is a view not shared by NGOs. Our fish is concerned that for the fourth year in a row, the Council of Ministers has set limits on cod fishing in the Western Baltic that are far higher than scientific opinion approves of, despite severe overfishing. The same point was made by Oceana, which says that these quotas are irresponsible and risk undermining the Common Fisheries Policy aim of achieving sustainable levels of fishing by 2020.
The cod war
The proposals on total allowable catches (TAC) for cod unveiled by the European Commission led to strong divisions because of the difference in treatment for cod in the Western Baltic and cod in the Eastern Baltic: no change in TAC for the west but a 28% cut for the east. Poland and the Baltic States called for a balancing. In the end, the agreement foresees keeping the quotas for Western cod unchanged (5,597 tonnes). The reduction in quotas for Eastern cod was slashed to 8% (28,388 tonnes). As the talks entered the early hours of the morning, the other problematic TACs (herring, salmon and so on) were re-discussed to strike an overall balance.
Hence the 2018 TAC for herring in the Riga Gulf was cut by 7% to 28,999 tonnes, as proposed by the Commission; the TAC for herring was increased by 20% to 229,355 tonnes (rather than the 25% increase initially proposed). Significant reductions were decided upon, viz. 40% in the TAC for herring in Bothnia (reduced to 84,599 tonnes) and 39 % for Western herring (cut to 17,309 tonnes). But this is still below what the Directorate General for Fisheries was calling for (a 50% and 54% cut respectively).
As proposed by the European Commission, the TAC for sprat in 2018 will be 262,310 tonnes (+1%). For salmon in the main basin, the TAC has been set at 91,132 tonnes (-5%) compared with 106,096 tonnes (+11%) in the European Commission’s proposal. The TAC for salmon in the Gulf of Finland is 10,003 tonnes (-5%), like in the initial proposal. Finally, quotas will be reduced by 10% (7,076 tonnes) for plaice rather than the initially proposed 20% cut.
Eels postponed to later date
The other problematic area of the text submitted by the European Commission is the ban on eel fishing in the Baltic in 2018, but talks on this have been postponed. Most delegations feel it was best to set up a pan-European plan. A number of member states also protested at the European Commission’s methods, saying it has not carried out a true consultation. Spain and France supported the countries in question, fearing that this ban would create a precedent and a moratorium might be decided elsewhere in Europe. France suggested re-examining the EU regulation on eels, which dates back to 2007.
The only country open to the European Commission’s proposal was Sweden.
Karmenu Vella reminded ministers of the need to take urgent action to protect eels given the concern about low stock levels in Europe. He said the ban was a necessary sacrifice and said he would return in December with a solution covering all sea basins (Baltic, North Sea, Atlantic). Estonian environment minister Siim Kiisler, who was chairing the Fisheries Council, said the Council shared this concern and would return to the subject in December.