Starting Saturday 26 February, new measures to protect harbour porpoises in the Baltic Sea during fishing operations will come into force, the European Commission has announced.
Virginijus Sinkevičius, the Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, welcomed the fact that the EU is stepping up protection of these critically endangered marine mammals, “but still more needs to be done”, he said.
These measures have been proposed by eight Member States (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden) and, according to the scientists, “they are only the first step. We will continue to work closely with the Member States on additional measures to improve the protection of this iconic species and help the recovery of its population”, explained the Commissioner.
Eleven marine areas are now closed to fishing with static nets or fishing gears must be equipped with acoustic deterrent devices to warn away these marine mammals.
The new measures include: - a year-round closure for fishing with static nets in the Natura 2000 area of Hoburgs bank och Midsjöbankarna and in the Southern Midsea Bank; - a year-round closure for all fisheries, except for fishing with traps, pots and longlines in one area (Northern Midsea Bank); - a seasonal closure for fishing with static nets in nine Natura 2000 sites (Adler Grund and Rønne Banke, Adlergrund, Westliche Rönnebank, Pommersche Bucht mit Oderbank, Greifswalder Boddenrandschwelle und Teile der Pommerschen Bucht, Ostoja na Zatoce Pomorskiej, Wolin i Uznam, Pommersche Bucht, Sydvästskånes utsjövatten); - the obligatory use of acoustic deterrent devices in two Natura 2000 sites of Poland and Sweden (in the West and East of the Ryf Mew sandbank, inside and outside the Zatoka Pucka i Półwysep Helski Natura 2000 site and in the Sydvästskånes utsjövatten Natura 2000 site).
Link to the text: https://aeur.eu/f/id (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)