First cycle River Basin Management Plans under our control?
CCB • September 7, 2009
The European Community has faced the important challenges to recover the good status of water bodies by 2015, as required by the Water Framework Directive. Water in rivers, estuaries and coasts will hopefully improve under measures set up in the River Basin Management Plans (RBMP) drawn up for river basin districts across Europe.
Read the article by CCB Water Policy Officer Anna Smolka, on her experience from the RBMP planning process.
On Wednesday, 28 May, the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) published its scientific advice for fish stocks in the Baltic Sea . In response, environmental NGOs from around the Baltic Sea region urge the European Commission to propose, and fisheries ministers to adopt, fishing opportunities at levels well below the headline advice to safeguard ecosystem needs and dynamics and allow for rapid recovery of Baltic Sea fish populations.

Key Baltic fish populations are in crisis, warn environmental NGOs. New scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, ICES, confirms the poor condition of key Baltic fish populations, several of which remain collapsed (1). EU fisheries ministers must set 2026-catch limits well below ICES advice and prioritise long-term recovery over short-term economic gains.