The Baltic Sea Cod Fisheries are divided in two stocks, an eastern (ICES area 25-32) and a western (ICES area 22-24). The eastern stock is far the bigger of the two stocks, with a spawning stock biomass of 223.000 t. Both stocks are managed according to an EC agreed plan for the cod fisheries in the Baltic Sea (EU Council regulation 1098/2007, Baltic cod multi-annual plan, September 2007).
ICES advices on the quotas for 2010 are as follows:
The Total Allowable Catches (TAC) for eastern stock should be increased from 49.380 t in 2009 with 15% to 56.800 t (EU & Russia, while the TAC for the western stock should be increased by 8.6 % to 17.700 t in 2010.
Total Allowable Catches (TAC) is the maximum quantities of cod that in accordance with the management objectives can be caught over a given period of time, usually a year. TAC includes landings and discards (estimated).
