In the early hours of Tuesday 20 October in Luxembourg, the EU Fisheries Ministers reached a political agreement on the Total Allowable Catches (TACs) and quotas for 2021 in the waters of the Baltic Sea.
Ministers agreed to further reduce fishing opportunities for several fish stocks caught in the Baltic (cod, herring) in order to ensure their recovery. They decided to maintain the closure of the cod fishery in the Eastern Baltic and to provide only a by-catch quota for this stock, which is considerably reduced compared to last year.
Julia Klöckner, German Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture, said that the agreement “strengthens our efforts to help stocks to recover while guaranteeing activities for fishermen”.
“I want to stress that today’s agreement is the only way to turn the situation around and help fishing communities build a prosperous future”, said Fisheries Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius. He recalled that the Baltic Sea “is not in good condition. The causes go far beyond fisheries and we need to address all the factors that affect the ecosystem”.
Cod. The EU Council decided to reduce the so-called by-catches (incidental catches) of cod in the Eastern Baltic by 70% to only 595 tonnes in 2021.
The four-month closure of the cod fishery in the Eastern Baltic has been maintained (with an exception for purely scientific fishing and small-scale coastal fishing using specific gear).
“This fish stock has been below safe biological limits for several years and is expected to remain at such low levels in the medium term, even without fishing”, commented Virginijus Sinkevičius.
In addition, the ban on recreational fishing for Eastern Baltic cod is maintained. Finally, the Member States concerned undertake not to make use of the year-to-year flexibility for the Eastern Baltic cod TAC.
As regards the cod stock in the Western Baltic, the Ministers concerned negotiated for a slight increase in the TAC (+5%) to a total of 4,000 tonnes (the Commission proposed a reduction of 11%). Recreational fishing for cod in the Western Baltic is severely restricted and there is a closed season.
Herring. For herring caught in the central Baltic, the Commission had proposed a 36% reduction in the TAC compared to 2020, to 95,551 tonnes in total, a reduction which was finally accepted by the Ministers. The TAC for western herring has been reduced by 50% to 1,575 tonnes.
In addition, Ministers agreed on a moderate increase in TACs for herring in the Gulf of Riga (+15% to 39,446 tonnes), sprat (+6% to 222,958 tonnes) and salmon in the main Baltic Sea basin area (+9%). Salmon catches in the Gulf of Finland will experience a moderate decline (-8%).
30,000 t for Norway pout. Traditionally, Ministers have had to update fishing opportunities for Norway pout to take account of scientific advice. The EU Council has set this TAC at 30,000 tonnes for this species whose season starts at the beginning of November. As this stock is partially present in UK waters, the TAC is currently set only until the end of the year and will need to be revised at that time.
To ensure the entry into force of this Regulation before 1st November in order to ensure the continuation of fishing activities for Norway pout, this text will be adopted rapidly by written procedure.
The NGOs are rather reassured. Several environmental NGOs broadly welcomed the Ministers’ decisions, while regretting that the proposal on western cod was not followed. “This will not be enough to save herring, cod or the Baltic Sea ecosystem on which (fishing) communities depend”, warn the organisations Our Fish, WWF and Oceana in a joint statement.
Link to the Baltic TAC table: https://bit.ly/2FJfPtQ (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)