CCB welcomes EU Commission proposal to ban fishing for eel in the Baltic Sea

CCB • August 29, 2017

The European Eel is a critically endangered fish species with a dramatic stock size decline the past 30 years.  Conservation efforts have so far failed to deliver and scientific experts have repeatedly called for drastic management measures. Today the EU Commission presented a proposal to ban all fishing for eel in the Baltic Sea. CCB very much welcome this proposal and call upon all Member States to complete this eel fishing ban in all of theirs waters, combined with other conservation efforts.

The European eel is a fantastic fish, a survivor from pre-historic times and it has lived through several ice ages. Human impact on the eel stock has been devastating and conservation efforts have so far been insufficient. The stock has declined rapidly and from being very common in most Baltic Sea Region coasts, lakes and streams, the eel is now rare and the reproduction has fallen almost 98%. In an attempt to give more adult eels the chance to spawn, the EU Commission is now proposing to stop fishing on eel in Baltic Sea waters.

-This is very good news for the eel, and a welcome and strong signal from the Commission that more must be done to protect eel, says Mikhail Durkin, Executive Secretary of the Coalition Clean Baltic (CCB)

The environmental NGOs have for years demanded that eel must be treated like other threatened fish species and under current circumstances, with a collapse of the eel stock, allowing targeted fishing is simply unacceptable. We risk losing this fish right in front of our eyes by not acting on the clear advice given by scientific experts. The EU Commission has now taken action and with the proposal to stop fishing on eel, the chance for the eel to recover increases. We support this proposal and want to underline that regardless of where and how, all eel fishing must be stopped until the population shows signs of recovery. It is regretful that closing a fishery will affect fishermen but it should have been done years ago and it does not make sense to build a business on a threatened species. We must also stress that upstream measures such as removing dams and opening dams during migration season for eel is absolutely necessary. Its time dam owners pay their debts to the eels. Likewise we believe that in the Baltic Sea Region it is important to address all countries in the catchment area with equivalent management response to protect the European eel, as provided for by the EU Water Framework Directive and the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan (2007), as well as various global legal acts.

-We call upon all Members States in the EU to honor their commitment to protect eel, uphold the EU fishing and environmental rules as well as international agreements to stop the loss of biodiversity says Nils Höglund, Fisheries Policy Office at CCB

https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/?fuseaction=list&coteId=1&documentType=PROPOSAL_FOR_A_REGULATION&version=ALL&language=en

 

Contact:  Nils Höglund, policy officer CCB  +46 708 679 249; nils@ccb.se

Mikhail Durkin, Exec. Secretary CCB +46 73 977 07 93; mikhail.durkin@ccb.se

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.