Today, the European Commission released their regulation for establishing a multispecies plan for the Baltic Sea.
Stocks concerned are sprat, herring and both western and eastern cod stocks. Effects on flatfishes due to fishing activities on especially cod are also considered. Levels of fishing mortalities (F) are presented as ranges (+/- 10 %) and it is notable that F ranges for the eastern and western cod stocks deviate considerably (0.41-0.51 and 0.23-0.29, respectively). However, ICES who has provided the Commission with these specific F ranges stresses that they should only be considered as preliminary and that they are not able to deliver more accurate advice until March next year.