The worrying state of the cod stock in eastern Baltic waters will push the European Commission to take action, the Commission said on Tuesday 18 June in Luxembourg (see EUROPE 12276/18).
At Lithuania's request, EU fisheries Ministers discussed the measures to be taken to save the cod stock in the eastern Baltic, which is on the verge of exhaustion.
The advice of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) on the state of the cod stock in the Eastern Baltic calls for a total allowable catch (TAC) of zero for this stock in 2020.
Emergency measures. However, as the situation is critical, the Commission must adopt emergency measures for a period of six months, as authorised by the 2013 Regulation on the Common Fisheries Policy. "On duly justified imperative grounds of urgency relating to a serious threat to the conservation of marine biological resources or to the marine ecosystem based on evidence, the Commission, at the reasoned request of a Member State or on its own initiative, may, in order to alleviate that threat, adopt immediately applicable implementing acts applicable for a maximum period of six months", states the CFP Regulation 1380. Emergency measures may take the form of a closed season, for example.
Lithuania has asked the Commission to provide, in addition to emergency measures, provisions to help fishermen cope with the situation. Lithuania's concerns were shared by the other Baltic States, Poland, Denmark and Sweden. The latter two countries stressed the need for a more holistic approach to address the problem of cod stock depletion in the Eastern Baltic. It is not only the commercial fishery that is depleting the resource. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)