BALTFISH to discuss Baltic TACs

The Commission’s proposal for Baltic is one of the issues on the agenda of this week’s BALTFISH meetings, which will also deal with the future multispecies management plan for cod, herring and sprat.

Today, representatives of the Baltic Member States meet with stakeholders to discuss regional fisheries management in the Baltic. After the BALTFISH Forum, there will be a Highlevel Group meeting tomorrow, consisting of only the Member States’ representatives, to continue discussions.

At the top of the agenda is the Baltic fishing possibilities for 2015 – the first to be agreed under the reformed CFP. With the proposal published only last week, it is uncertain whether the BALTFISH will be able to agree on joint recommendations in one sitting.

FISH will be represented at the meeting, together with representatives for the Baltic Sea Advisory Council (BSAC), Coalition Clean Baltic (CCB), Oceana and WWF. After an analysis of the Commission proposal, this is our recommendations to BALTFISH:

• For the western Baltic cod stock we call on BALTFISH to support the Commission proposal, which is in line with scientific advice and the F_MSY target for 2015.
• Due to the exceptional circumstances for the eastern Baltic cod stock, we call on BALTFISH to support the scientific advice for a total catch of 29 085 tonnes, in order to give the stock a chance to recover. However, a prompt implementation of the landing obligation is of great importance, as both scientists and managers need better data on the total catches in order to device management measures that will facilitate stock recovery. Therefore, if no agreement can be found that supports both the ICES catch advice and the implementation of the landing obligation, a roll-over of the total catches in 2013 of 36 356 tonnes could be considered.
• For central Baltic herring, we call on BALTFISH to support the Commission proposal, which is in line with scientific advice and the F_MSY target for 2015. However, we want to remind the Member States about the scientific uncertainties in this assessment and consider this in the discussions.
• For Gulf of Riga herring we call on BALTFISH to support the Commission proposal, which is in line with scientific advice and the F_MSY target for 2015.
• FISH, together with the rest of the Baltic Sea Advisory Council (BSAC), suggests a more modest increase in the TAC for herring in the Bothnian Sea and Bay – 15 per cent, resulting in 158 700 tonnes – considering the large uncertainties in the scientific data underpinning the assessment, and the continuous overestimations of the productivity of these stocks. We also believe it would be better to separate the management of the two stocks, in order to better protect the data-limited northern stock.
• For western Baltic herring, we call on BALTFISH to support the Commission proposal, which is in line with scientific advice and the F_MSY target for 2015.
• For Baltic sprat, we call on BALTFISH to support the Commission proposal, which is in line with scientific advice and the F_MSY target for 2015.
• For salmon in the Main Basin and the Gulf of Bothnia, we call on BALTFISH to recommend a total commercial catch at sea for 2015 of no more than 82 000 individuals (based on the reported catch for 2013 + 3 000 undersized individuals discarded). This is due to the proposed exemption of seal-damaged fish in the discard ban plan agreed by BALTFISH, and the fact that implementation of the new CFP (including the landing obligation) in no way guarantees that the substantial unreported and misreported catches will decrease or disappear.
• For salmon in the Gulf of Finland, we call on BALTFISH to recommend a total commercial sea catch of less than 9 864 individuals for 2015, including the 81 per cent reported wanted catch and the current 2,6 per cent discard of undersized fish (“unwanted catch”) . There should be no commercial fisheries on wild salmon and subsequently all salmon caught in the Gulf of Finland that retains its adipose fin should be released. This should be possible even with the discard ban because of the proposed exemption for trap-nets.
• We also strongly recommend that the ICES advice that “fisheries on mixed salmon stocks present particular threats to weak stocks; fisheries in open seas are more likely to pose a threat; and that effort on such fisheries should be reduced” is followed. Finally, we emphasise the need for long term stock-specific rebuilding measures, including habitat restoration and removal of physical barriers in rivers and fisheries restrictions for weaker stocks in estuaries and rivers.
• We urge BALTFISH to support the Commission proposal for plaice.

 

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