Meeting in Gdynia yesterday for its annual General Assembly, the Baltic Sea Regional Advisory Council took the first formal steps to implement the new Common Fisheries Policy. It has been renamed the Baltic Sea Advisory Council and adjusted its membership base to reflect the new 60/40 split.
After preparations by the Executive Committee and Secretariat, the Baltic Sea Advisory Council (BSAC) was able to adopt a revised set of statutes reflecting all the changes in the basic regulation (EU 1380/2013; Arts 43-45 and Annex III) directly affecting the work of the [R]ACs.
Key changes included adjustment of the membership structure, both overall and in the Executive Committee to comply with the new 60/40 percent split. Henceforth the Executive Committee will consist of 25 seats, with 15 representing the fisheries sector and 10 representing other interest groups, including environmental and consumer organisations. The 15 industry seats will remain with the organisations currently represented (there was one vacancy), while one of the two new seats for the other interest groups will be taken up by Baltic2020, already an active member in the BSAC.
The international conservation organisation Oceana, which since a few years has a Baltic regional office in Copenhagen, had applied for membership in the BSAC and was willing to take up the other new seat. However, its membership was contested by some of the fishing sector representatives. In the end, it was agreed – with a small majority – that a new letter would be sent to the Member States – as it is they and not the members of the AC that approve or decline membership. Oceana is already an active member in several other Advisory Councils, including the Mediterranean RAC, the South Western Waters RAC and the Long Distance RAC.
New name, new website
In line with the new text in the CFP, the name has also been changed, dropping “Regional” to become just the Baltic Sea Advisory Council (BSAC). This may take some time for people to get used to, and also required other changes that were adopted by the General Assembly: an adjusted logo and a new website address: www.bsac.dk. All mention of the now disbanded Advisory Council for Fisheries and Aquaculture (ACFA) has been deleted.
The BSAC Vice Chair – Ewa Milewska from WWF Poland – was reelected for another 3-year period. Also, a work programme for the coming year was adopted, reflecting the increased role and responsibilities of the ACs. Work will continue on the expected discard ban plan for the Baltic Sea and a new multiannual multispecies management plan, but the review of the data collection regulation and the annual negotiations on fishing limits will also be dealt with.
From discard ban to bird bycatch
But the Baltic Sea Advisory Council did not only discuss formalities in Gdynia. At the Executive Committee meeting in the morning, the discard ban plan was discussed ahead of the upcoming BALTFISH meeting in Riga on 29-30 April. Discussions related to the omnibus regulation also continued, whereas the Commission consultation on technical measures was put aside due to the full agenda and the fact that the consultation period has been extended until 14 May.
Members also heard presentations about the end phase of the flagship project to develop a plan to reduce the number of accidents in fisheries, as well as a new initiative attempting to address bird bycatch in gillnet fisheries recently launched in Latvia.