Calls for Emergency Halt to Baltic Fishing

CCB • May 29, 2019

Brussels May 29, 2019:- Responding to scientific advice that a number of important Baltic fish populations are in a state of crisis and cannot be fished sustainably, four non-governmental organisations have demanded a halt to fishing for western Baltic herring and eastern Baltic cod for 2020 – and to end overfishing, as is required by EU law. Coalition Clean Baltic, Oceana, Our Fish and WWF today called on the European Commission – which is responsible for proposing fishing limits – and on fisheries ministers – who make the final decisions, to not exceed the scientific advice provided by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) when setting all fishing limits in the Baltic Sea.

The EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) requires sustainable exploitation of EU fish stocks by 2020. [1]. Scientific advice published by ICES on 29 May 2019 clearly states that western Baltic cod [2], eastern Baltic cod [3], and western Baltic herring [4] fisheries are in a dire state, both as a result of, and contributing to, a deteriorating situation in the Baltic Sea. ICES has recommended that catches of eastern Baltic cod and western Baltic herring in 2020 should be zero in order to meet CFP objectives, and to safeguard fish populations and deliver sustainable fisheries in the future.

“Western and eastern Baltic cod, as well as western Baltic herring, underpin the Baltic Sea’s ecosystem, yet decades of overfishing, and the ignoring of scientific advice by the EU Commission and Baltic governments, has been one of the drivers of destruction and a tragedy for the coastal communities”, said Ottilia Thoreson, Director, WWF Baltic Ecoregion Programme. “Due to these years of destruction and neglect, we are now facing a situation where fishing must be halted, if we are to have a chance to fish and sustain livelihoods in the future”.

“The only sane response to the collapse of the eastern cod population is to stop all fishing now and develop a recovery plan, rather than wait for 2020”, said Nils Höglund, Fishery and marine policy officer, Coalition Clean Baltic. “With this clear advice from ICES, EU Member States must act without delay – and if they do not, the Commission must take action – there are still fish that can be saved, and spawning season is happening right now”.

“The European Commission has a responsibility to start pulling Baltic fisheries back from the brink and rebuilding its ecosystems, when it proposes the fishing limits for 2020. When doing so, it is essential for the Commission to put forward fishing limits that do not exceed scientific advice, to set an example for member states on responsible fisheries management”, said Andrzej Białaś, Policy Advisor, Oceana.

“All EU governments committed to end overfishing and to return our seas to good health, when they signed up to the reformed Common Fisheries Policy in 2013. Yet six years later, the situation in the Baltic Sea is worsening, with governments still caving in to short term industry pressure [5]. This year, the EU Commission and Baltic member states, must follow the science, and begin managing our fisheries and Baltic Sea ecosystem for the long term benefit of all citizens and nature, not just the short-term profits of a few”, said Rebecca Hubbard, Programme Director, Our Fish.

The Common Fisheries Policy demands that exploitation of all fish stocks is sustainable by 2020, without exceptions. Yet, for two years in a row, the Commission has requested ICES advice for fishing limits to Baltic plaice that do not meet these requirements, which only serves to undermine its own ambition, and that of Member State governments to fish at sustainable levels [6]. If the European Commission would like to contribute to Baltic Sea wealth and restoration they should fully respect Common Fisheries Policy requirements.

Western (Baltic) Spring Spawning Herring Western Baltic herring is in crisis: scientific advice from ICES to stop fishing last year was ignored, and the population has been further depleted this year [4]. ICES scientific advice suggests that the herring population will not recover unless emergency measures are taken to save the fishery, including an immediate halt on fishing. For the year 2020, ICES still advises a fishing limit of zero tonnes.


Eastern Baltic Cod According to ICES, the eastern Baltic cod population is in a state of distress, with reproduction of the population at the lowest on record since 1946 [3]. Growth, condition (weight at length) and size at maturation has substantially declined during the last decades, and yet EU governments have repeatedly set fishing limits for eastern Baltic cod above scientific advice [3]. Unreported, illegal discarding of eastern Baltic cod is also believed to be rife and increasing, as a result of poor monitoring and control [7]. ICES advice for eastern Baltic cod fishing limit in 2020 is zero tonnes.


Western Baltic Cod Western Baltic cod is still in a precarious state with estimates of the population revised down by over 60% this year [2]. ICES warns that the number of young fish entering the fishery in 2018 and 2019 are the lowest on record, and reports that if this doesn’t change in the coming years, there will be a rapid decline in the population. ICES therefore suggests to use the lower value when setting the fishing limits. This equates to zero catches in subdivision 24 (Baltic Sea west of Bornholm) in order to comply with the zero catch advised for eastern Baltic cod (where there is mixing of eastern and western Baltic cod), and a commercial fishing limit of between 2,329 and 3,065 tonnes of western Baltic cod for subdivisions 22-23 [2].

Contacts:

Dave Walsh, Communications Advisor, Our Fish, dave@our.fish , +34691826764
Nils Höglund, Fisheries Policy Office CCB, nils.hoglund@ccb.se , +46 708 679 249
Ottilia Thoreson, Director WWF Baltic Ecoregion Programme, ottilia.thoreson@wwf.se , +46-8-624 74 15
Andrzej Białaś, Policy Advisor, Oceana, abialas@oceana.org , +48 501 58 88 33

Don't reopen the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Implement it.

By CCB • June 15, 2026
The European Commission's evaluation confirms what environmental NGOs across Europe have long argued: the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)'s challenge is not its design, but its implementation.

Joint NGO recommendations on Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2027

By CCB • June 10, 2026
The poor status and decline of many Baltic Sea fish populations have been thoroughly documented over several decades, indicating that the entire ecosystem is in great distress. So far, policy interventions have not reversed, or even halted, the negative trend concerning many of these populations. The European Commission itself recently recognised in its Common Fishery Policy (CFP) evaluation report that progress on stock rebuilding is lacking and the number of stocks “ threatened by collapse due to impaired recruitment has increased during the reporting period ”. Fish populations that once formed the cornerstone of the Baltic Sea fishery, such as the eastern and western Baltic cod and the western Baltic herring, are now doing so poorly that the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) is advising zero catch for these stocks. Yet, even with the targeted fishery being closed for some years now, none of these three stocks are showing sufficient signs of recovery. The condition (such as size and weight-at-age) of many flatfish populations, such as plaice, also raises alarm bells. The salmon spawning migration has fallen short of the target level in the past three years5. As a result, even the healthiest salmon stocks are now unlikely to produce enough smolts corresponding to sustainable levels in the coming years. To address the crisis facing Baltic populations and the broader ecosystem, political will and ambition to improve fisheries management, alongside full implementation of the CFP provisions, are needed. The recent INI report on the Baltic Sea Multi-Annual Plan shows that the European Parliament recognises the importance of ecosystem-based fisheries management as well as the need for consideration of environmental legislation when making decisions on fishing opportunities.6 Fisheries managers must now act swiftly and decisively on the commitment the Commission and Baltic Sea Member States made at last year’s October Agrifish Council to rebuild Baltic Sea stocks. This document presents the joint NGO recommendations regarding Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2027, prioritising long-term ecosystem health and sustainable fisheries management over short-term economic interests. The recommendations are based on the ICES advice, the objectives and requirements of the CFP8 and the Baltic Multiannual Plan (MAP), specifically to apply the precautionary approach and implement an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management, and the objective of achieving Good Environmental Status (GES) under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Last year’s overarching joint Briefing Series on TAC-setting, co-signed by almost 30 organisations across the EU and the UK, including environmental NGOs, recreational fishers, and fishing rights owners, remains valid and provides further context, background and detailed explanations on the cross-cutting issues raised in this document. Read the Joint NGO recommendations on Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2027 here .