News
November 5, 2019
The 20 year Baltic Sea scandal
False reporting of pelagic catches in the Baltic for herring and sprat by the industrial trawl segment and their falsification of logbook entries have been going on for over 20 years, according to research.
November 1, 2019
Commission proposes financial aid for fishermen affected by the closure of the Eastern Baltic cod fishery
Press release from the Commission Brussels, 31.10.2019 COM(2019) 564 final 2019/0246 (COD) Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EU) 2016/1139 as regards the introduction of capacity limits for Eastern Baltic cod, data collection and control measures in the Baltic Sea, and Regulation … Continued
October 24, 2019
Northeast Atlantic fishing opportunities 2020 – Joint NGO recommendations for EU Fisheries Council 16-17 December
In our joint recommendations to the EU Fisheries Council, The Fisheries Secretariat along with The Pew Charitable Trusts, Seas At Risk, Oceana, ClientEarth, and Our Fish have provided concrete policy proposals ahead of the December Council at which fishing limits or TACs will be set for over 100 stocks in the North Sea and Northeast Atlantic.
October 15, 2019
Baltic Sea Fishing Opportunities 2020 – Council agreement
Council agreement and other related statements and commentary. Text and table of the Council agreement are available below and on the EU Council website here. Council agreement on 2020 catch limits in the Baltic Sea COMMISSION proposal COUNCIL agreement Name Latin name ICES FISHING ZONES TACs 2019 2020 2020 TACs … Continued
October 9, 2019
Get real, fisheries ministers!
The Baltic Sea, 2019. Emergency measures for eastern Baltic cod. Scientists advice again a zero quota on Western herring. Huge and long term misreporting of catches revealed in the pelagic fisheries for sprat and herring undermining science. Half of the assessed Baltic fish stocks outside safe biological limits*. Continued illegal discarding of unwanted catches. Parasites spread by seals. As a consequence of all this: an unaddressed and growing problem of overcapacity in the fishing fleet. I can make the list longer, but you get the picture.
September 28, 2019
Update on Eastern Baltic Cod
Below we provide a list of recent documents concerning Eastern Baltic Cod (EBC), with the date of publication or corresponding meeting for each document. We think it will aid clarity and discussion to put these documents in one place online. We hope that if all stakeholders see the same documents they may more easily share a common understanding and take joint initiatives to save what can be saved of Eastern Baltic Cod.
September 17, 2019
Pelagic trawlers report false catch figures and undermine sustainable management
Baltic pelagic fisheries has massively misreported official catches, with sprat catches regularly recorded as herring – and the false reporting is not an isolated event, reports SR Kaliber, an investigative programme on Swedish national radio.
September 12, 2019
New leadership at HELCOM
The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM) has appointed a new Executive Secretary. Rüdiger Strempel, an international lawyer by training, assumed the position on 1 August 2019.
September 5, 2019
Fisheries technical measures: An important tool to reach good environmental status
The objective in the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) from 2008 is to reach Good Environmental Status (GES) by 2020 at the latest. Technical measures are a broad set of rules which govern how, where and when fishermen may fish, to ensure “the conservation of fisheries resources and the protection of marine ecosystems”. The recently … Continued
September 4, 2019
Support and criticism for EU Commission proposal for Baltic Sea fishing in 2020
Helsinki, 4 Sept 2019 – At a press conference today environmental NGOs The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, Coalition Clean Baltic and the Fisheries Secretariat welcomed the fact that the European Commission proposal for fishing opportunities for 2020 in the Baltic Sea follows scientific advice for the majority of the Baltic Sea fish stocks. However, … Continued