Multiannual plan for Baltic Fish stocks concluded

CCB • March 16, 2016

The 15th of March, European Parliament, the Council and the Commission finally agreed on a new management plan for the main commercial fish stocks in the Baltic Sea. CCB and many other NGOs have worked hard to present our views on what is needed to safeguard the stocks in the Baltic and we can now conclude that the result is not at all what we had hoped for.

The plan allows to set F, the fishing mortality, above the Maximum Sustainable Yield level. This means that the Council can continue to decide on catches every year that does not meet the ambition of the CFP reform, catch levels that ignore the scientific advice. This also means that reaching Good Environmental Status under the MSFD and reaching the goal of “healthy fish stocks” in HELCOMs BSAP is very difficult, if not impossible.

There are so called safeguards in the plan, stating that higher fishing mortality levels can only be used under certain circumstances. The main example is that only when a stock is in good condition, such higher levels can be used. It remains to be seen if this has any practical meaning at all. For example, last years Council decision on catches on the Western cod stock was set far above what science advised on despite the fact the the stock is under the biomass level set in this plan as the “emergency level” Blim.

The ambition to really rebuild fish stocks, making it possible not only for the stocks to replenish but also provide a future for fishermen, is hard to find in this new plan. The Baltic plans now sets a president for other plans to come and it looks like EU will continue to be the bad example in the world of fisheries management.

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/mare/itemlongdetail.cfm?item_id=29772&subweb=343&lang=en

 

CCB is looking for a Network Officer to join our team at the CCB International Secretariat

By CCB • April 9, 2025
Coalition Clean Baltic – CCB is a politically independent network, uniting 27 environmental non-profit organizations, as well as partners and experts from 11 countries surrounding the Baltic Sea. The main goal of CCB is to promote the protection and improvement of the environment and natural resources of the Baltic Sea region by encouraging new and constructive approaches and engaging people to become part of the solution instead of part of the problem. CCB Secretariat is based in Uppsala, Sweden.

Attacks on NGOs: 570+ Organisations Join Forces to Defend Civil Society

By CCB • April 7, 2025
European civil society organisations (CSOs) are currently facing an attack coming from certain Members of the European Parliament. Spearheaded by some MEPs from the European People’s Party (EPP) and by far-right groups, this attack resorts to misleading arguments to fabricate a scandal. This portrayal has been amplified through the media, with notable exceptions of articles that attempted to clarify this misleading narrative. European CSOs are crucial to ensure the voices of citizens from different parts of Europe are heard in the EU institutions. Attacks against civil society are unfortunately not new and are exacerbated by this harmful idea. Furthermore, for-profit corporate lobbying is through the roof when compared to non-profit advocacy. In 2024, the 50 corporations with the largest lobbying budgets collectively spent nearly €200 million on lobbying the EU alone (66% more than in 2015). Comparing this to the funding environmental NGOs receive under the LIFE programme - €15.6 million annually of a €700 million yearly budget - truly shows the weakness of this ‘scandal’. This is why over 570 civil society organisations from 40 countries, including all EU Member States, have joined forces to call on those in power to act now and ensure that civil society is adequately funded and enabled to share our crucial perspectives . In this statement, we address: The source of this false narrative; Inaccurate claims made about how CSOs obtain and use funding; Why it’s paramount that CSOs receive sufficient funding; The need for civil dialogue to enable CSOs participation. Democracy is about the right of citizens to be collectively heard for building an inclusive society and a shared European future; properly funded independent CSOs are a crucial tool for that. We call on decision-makers to ensure civil society organisations can thrive and play their role in interacting with policy-makers in order to have a more fully informed decision-making process. Read the full statement here . -END Civil Society Europe (CSE) is the coordination of civil society organisations at EU level. Through its membership, CSE unites EU-level membership-based organisations that reach out to millions of people active in or supported by not-for-profits and civil society organisations across the EU. CSE was created by several civil society organisations as a follow-up to the European Year of Citizens and was established as an international not-for-profit under Belgian law in 2016. Since then, it has become the point of reference for EU institutions on transversal issues concerning civil dialogue and civic space.