Transparency and sustainability are the keywords of the Swedish presidency at BALTFISH[1], as explained by representatives from Swedish ministry at the BALTFISH Forum meeting with representatives from the fishing sector and NGOs in Stockholm on September 5th. Another word emphasised was: cooperation.
An example of transparency was that the work programme for BALTFISH was sent out in advance of the meeting, as well as the agenda for the BALTFISH High level group meeting the following day. This was a step forward compared to how it has sometimes been in the past. And in response to a question from an NGO representative about the lack of anything in the work programme about fisheries regulation in Marine Protected Areas or Marine Spatial Planning[2], it was explained that these topics are in fact included in the work programme, under the point on transparency.
The largest part of the meeting was devoted to an exchange of views between the representatives of the Commission (participating by voice link), of the fisheries sector and of NGOs on 2019 catch limits and additional management measures for various Baltic fish stocks.
What the Member States representatives made of all this may be reflected in the minutes of the BALTFISH High level group meeting held the next day. Or in the conclusions of the October Council.
[1] BALTFISH is the high level group of government representatives dealing with fisheries from the 8 EU Member States with Baltic coastlines. See https://www.balticsea-region-strategy.eu/attachments/article/590800/2017%2002%2003%20BALTFISH%20final%20report.pdf
[2] Conservation measures are explicitly highlighted as a task for regional Member State cooperation under Article 18(1) of the Basic Regulation (1380/2013) of the CFP.