On Tuesday 24 October, the EU fisheries ministers reached a political agreement on total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas in the Baltic for 2024.
This agreement respects the scientific advice of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and the provisions of the multi-annual management plan for Baltic Sea stocks, according to the EU Council.
A single compromise text was presented to the ministers in order to reach this compromise.
The EU Council decided to continue setting TACs for by-catches only for western herring (788 tonnes), eastern cod (595 tonnes) and western cod (340 tonnes).
In the case of herring from the Gulf of Bothnia and central herring, the EU Council reduced the TACs by 31% (to 55,000 tonnes) and 43% (40,368 tonnes) respectively. Initially, the European Commission only proposed volumes for by-catches of these two stocks.
The TAC for salmon in the Gulf of Finland has been increased by 7%.
The 2023 fishing opportunities for plaice have been renewed. Although the state of plaice stocks has improved considerably, cod is an unavoidable by-catch in plaice fisheries.
The TACs for Riga herring, main basin salmon and sprat have been reduced by 17, 15 and 10% respectively, given the poor health of the stocks.
The EU Council also agreed on specific measures:
- limiting recreational salmon fishing to a single specimen per angler per day. After catching the first specimen, recreational anglers must stop fishing for salmon for the rest of the day;
- a ban on recreational cod fishing in Baltic subdivisions 22-26.
In accordance with the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the EU Council also decided on fishing opportunities for Norway pout in the North Sea between the EU and the UK, given that this is a shared stock (TAC of 8,234 tonnes for the EU, which will apply from 1 November 2023 to 31 October 2024).
Luis Planas, Spain’s Fisheries Minister, said: “I believe that the outcome of these discussions is satisfactory, because it preserves our stocks while ensuring the economic survival of the fishing industry and fishermen”.
“The decisions were not taken easily or lightly. We have a responsibility to set fishing opportunity at the levels that can help the stocks to recover to the benefit of our fishers and their communities”, said Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for Fisheries.
Link to the TAC table: https://aeur.eu/f/97w (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)