News
December 12, 2023
Press Release: Fisheries Ministers watered down eel measures again
Fisheries Council deal: eel fishing closures in EU waters remain but are watered down again, allowing continued fishing for much of the peak migration period for glass eel and possible concessions in the Baltic region. The ban on recreational fisheries in marine waters remain. The decision is taken against stark and clear scientific advice calling … Continued
November 16, 2023
Gulf of Riga herring – the only healthy Baltic herring stock
Photo by Payllik Out of four herring stocks in the Baltic Sea three are in great distress, whereas the Riga herring is doing fine and has been stable or even increased over the last two decades. The reasons for this were discussed at a recent Baltic Breakfast hosted by the Baltic Sea Centre, Stockholm university. … Continued
November 10, 2023
Disappointing new measures on glass eel in the Mediterranean
This week, the management of European Eel has been discussed at the 46th Annual Session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM). The Mediterranean has been forging ahead on eel management in recent years, leading the way compared to the rest of the EU. But the new Recommendation adopted today is somewhat disappointing. … Continued
November 8, 2023
Small Fish – Big Impact, new FishSec project highlights the importance of forage fish
Stockholm, 8 November, 2023: FishSec is happy to announce that our new project Small Fish – Big Impact has started. This project, generously funded by the Swedish Postcode Lottery, will focus on the small but important fish known as forage fish, the importance of these species in the Baltic Sea and the need to manage these … Continued
November 1, 2023
ICES repeats zero catch advice for eel
The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, ICES, published its scientific advice for European eel for 2024 today. It is echoing last year’s advice: zero catches in all habitats and for all life stages and zero mortality for all non-fisheries related human impacts. European eel is not recovering and yet most EU countries … Continued
October 31, 2023
HELCOM releases report on the State of the Baltic Sea – HOLAS 3
Today, the 31st of October 2023, HELCOM released its new holistic assessment of the state of the Baltic Sea. Every 6th year a new assessment is done, this is the third one called HOLAS 3. It is a massive report comprising five themes into one large holistic assessment: 1) biodiversity, 2) eutrophication, 3) hazardous substances, … Continued
October 25, 2023
Council decision a major setback for Baltic fish stocks and the environment
Yesterday at the Agrifish council meeting, fisheries ministers agreed on the Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2024. The Commission proposal, which emphasised the urgent need of precautionary measures for several fish stocks, was downplayed, leaving business as usual as the main outcome. The most unsettling decisions concerned the Bothnian and Central Baltic herring populations. … Continued
October 24, 2023
EU ministers set quotas for Baltic herring that defy fisheries laws
PRESS RELEASE from: BalticWaters, Coalition Clean Baltic, ClientEarth, the Danish Society for Nature Conservation, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, The Fisheries Secretariat, Oceana, Seas At Risk, Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, and WWF Baltic Ecoregion Programme. Luxembourg, 24 October 2023: Today EU fisheries ministers have taken decisions concerning declining Baltic Sea herring stocks that will actively contribute to … Continued
October 19, 2023
Fisheries ministers poised to breach EU law and exacerbate Baltic ecosystem crisis, NGOs warn
On 23rd October, EU fisheries ministers will set Baltic Sea fishing limits for next year. Their decisions will likely breach EU law and worsen the dire state of the Baltic Sea, as Member States have made clear that they don’t support cuts to Baltic fishing opportunities in order to bring them in line with legal … Continued
October 17, 2023
FishBase symposium on tracking fish 2023
Tracking fish through telemetry and other methods is a research field of high importance when learning about fish ecology, as well as the promising field of eDNA. On the 16th of October the annual FishBase symposium took place, and FishSec participated and presented a poster from our eel project BALTEEL-RECO. Exiting take aways from the … Continued