The European Commission has adopted its proposal for the 2025 TACs and quotas for nine out of the ten stocks managed by the EU in the Baltic. The remaining quota proposal (Bothnian herring) will be submitted at a later stage.
The Commission proposes to increase fishing opportunities for central Baltic herring (+108%) and herring in the Gulf of Riga (+10%). It proposes to decrease salmon fishing in the main basin by 36%) and in the Gulf of Finland by 20%, as well as reducing sprat by 42%.
The proposal for plaice is a rollover, with an unchanged allocation – despite scientific advice allowing for a substantial increase – while the expectation is reductions in allocations for unavoidable by-catches of western Baltic cod (-73%), eastern Baltic cod (-68%) and western Baltic herring (-50%). New measures to reduce cod by-catches through alternative fishing gear are expected to enter into force this year.
For eastern Baltic cod, the Commission intends to keep a catch limit for unavoidable by-catches and all the accompanying measures in place already for several years. Since the stock continues to be in a bad condition, the by-catch limit should be adjusted to the actual needs. Despite the measures taken since 2019, when scientists first warned about the poor status of cod, the situation has not improved.
The situation is similar for western Baltic cod. The Commission therefore proposes to adjust the by-catch TAC to actual needs, and to keep all the accompanying measures.
As the stock size of western Baltic herring remains significantly below minimum levels, the proposal is to remove the exemption for small-scale coastal fisheries and adjusting the TAC to unavoidable by-catches only.
The stock size of central Baltic herring has increased above the minimum level since last year. ICES forecasts a very positive stock development due to high estimated recruitment but emphasises that the forecast is more uncertain than usual. The Commission therefore proposes a cautious approach and will not propose to has stressed that the TAC up to the maximum level included in the ICES advice. Herring in the Gulf of Riga is healthy, and the Commission proposes to set the catch limits according to the maximum recommended by ICES.
Based on the proposals, EU countries will take a final decision to determine the maximum quantities of the most important commercial fish species that can be caught in the Baltic Sea basin. The Council will examine the Commission’s proposal in view of adopting it during its meeting on 21-22 October 2024.
The European Commission also points out that the Baltic is the most polluted sea in Europe, affected by biodiversity loss, climate change, eutrophication, past overfishing, and elevated levels of contaminants such as pharmaceuticals and litter.
