(closed) CCB is looking for a Marine Policy Officer to join our team at the CCB International Secretariat

CCB • August 15, 2024

ROLE

CCB (*) is now recruiting an experienced Marine Policy Officer to join its team and play a central role in its advocacy and conservation work, with focus on the Baltic Sea. The Policy Officer will work on implementation of marine policy (particularly the EU MSFD and HELCOM BSAP) and its interaction with other relevant global, EU and regional environmental and sectorial (e.g. EU CFP) policies and frameworks, taking into account and promoting ecosystem-based management. You will work closely with the team in Uppsala on respective topic-wise issues to ensure effective implementation of CCB’s projects and initiatives. You will also support development and coordination of CCB’s strategic and thematic plans and ensure their effective implementation.


Main responsibilities

- Support the CCB’s Multiannual Plan of Action with regards to marine policy, mostly within Working Area Biodiversity and in coordination with other WAs

  • Contribute to implementation of the Plan of Action
  • Contribute to advocacy and take part in discussions and meetings at EU and Baltic regional level in support of

o  MSFD implementation and anticipated revision

o  Nature Restoration Law

o  Helsinki Convention (1992) and HELCOM BSAP

o  spatial conservation measures

o  ensuring ecosystem-based management in fisheries and minimising its impacts on the marine environment

  • Coordinate with CCB members’ respective marine policy work
  • Monitor relevant global, EU and regional policy developments
  • Support CCB’s communication activities
  • Support the drafting of position papers, policy briefings and reports.
  • Organise workshops and events
  • Contribute to the effective management, including budgeting and fundraising

- Coordinate activities with other environmental NGOs and CSOs

- Promote CCB positions within the EU institutions and internationally, among stakeholders and in relevant meetings and conferences

- Support fundraising, write grant proposals, report to funders

- Contribute to other CCB working areas, if needed.



Required skills

We are seeking candidates with:

- Significant experience in marine policy, knowledge of the EU MSFD, EU Biodiversity strategy, the CFP, preferably within the NGO sector

- Post-graduate qualification in marine science; biology, ecology, conservation, or water science/management with substantial marine content.

- EU citizenship or at least residence and work permit in order to travel for work purposes

- Excellent proficiency in spoken and written English


We would also welcome interest from candidates who have been working in wider/non-marine environmental policy areas if they can demonstrate skills and knowledge of marine science and law.


Desirable skills

Working knowledge of any other language common in the Baltic Sea catchment area, including Swedish, Danish, Finnish, German, Polish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian and Ukrainian.


If you are an adaptable, solutions-focused, marine policy professional with advocacy or campaigning expertise, a positive disposition, a passion for the ocean and environmental conservation, good sense of humor, vibrant team spirit and a can-do attitude, we’d love to hear from you!


Salary

Salary comparable to NGO staff in Sweden and in accordance with the Collective Agreements of the respective unions. Subject to adjustment depending on experience and annual increase.


Location

Flexible. Work from the office in Uppsala, as well as residence in Sweden is appreciated, but not mandatory. Several joint offline events for the whole staff expected per year in Sweden.


Travel

Candidates should be flexible to travel as required for meetings and events – mostly within the Baltic Sea Region, as well as Brussels. You need to be able to participate in occasional meetings on weekends.


Contract type

Intended permanent position with 6-month probation period.

It is expected that the new employee would start preferably ASAP, depending on availability.


APPLICATION & DEADLINE

Should you be interested in applying for this position please send you CV (max. 2 pages) with a personal letter (max. 1 page) before 15 September 2024 to secretariat@ccb.se.

Being an international organization, CCB’s work is carried out in English. Applications submitted in any other language or incomplete will not be considered.


Likewise any inquiries related to this vacancy announcement should be forwarded to the above email or by phone to Executive Secretary Mikhail Durkin at mikhail.durkin@ccb.se and +46 739 770 793.


Please note that due to limited staff resources and numbers of CVs anticipated, only shortlisted candidates for interviews will receive a reply. Thank you for your understanding.


***
In the application and hiring process, CCB will not discriminate against any individual based on race, colour, sex, language, religion, national or social origin, property, disability, age, family status, sexual orientation and gender identity, economic and social situation.

(*)Coalition Clean Baltic – CCB is a politically independent, non-profit association and unites Member and Observer organizations, as well as partners and individual experts in all countries of the Baltic Sea Region. Combined, the 26 CCB member and observer organizations have almost 1 500 000 members in all 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 for present and future generations. Common objectives for the CCB network include seeking opportunities to encourage new and constructive approaches and engaging people to become part of the solution instead of part of the problem. Being an international network organization, CCB has the advantage of being able to work both at the international and national policy levels as well as with concrete field projects. Four ways to reach our goal are: (1) Advocacy, (2) Information, environmental education and other activities, (3) Concrete co-operation projects in the field and (4) Support to Member Organizations. In order to strengthen its efforts and promote joint action to restore the environment of the Baltic Sea, CCB has 4 main Working Areas that are important for all its members: Eutrophication, Biodiversity, Hazardous Substances and Maritime.


CCB is Member of IUCN, BSAС; GWP Partner; Observer at HELCOM, NASCO, IWC.


To read more about CCB’s engagement in marine policy implementation, please visit our recent Annual Reports.


Further information about CCB’s policies and main documents is available here.


NGOs urge stronger action as 2027 Baltic Sea fishing limits fall short of securing full recovery of fish populations

By CCB • October 27, 2026
27 October 2026 , Luxembourg - EU fisheries ministers increased central Baltic and Bothnian herring catch limits beyond the European Commission’s proposals and significantly increased the sprat catch limit, falling short of the precaution needed to protect the role of herring and sprat in the Baltic Sea food web. The Council also rejected proposed cuts to accidental catches of severely depleted cod and western Baltic herring populations. NGOs warn that fishing limits remain too high and urge EU ministers to follow the agreement with concrete plans to rebuild depleted fish populations. Herring: further measures needed to safeguard fragile recovery and protect vulnerable populations EU fisheries ministers increased the catch limit for central Baltic herring to 165 228 tonnes, a 71% increase compared with 2026. The population has shown signs of improvement after years of depletion. However, the central Baltic herring population remains vulnerable, and rebuilding must restore healthy age and size structures as well as overall abundance. Although below the scientific headline catch advice, the Council’s decision exceeds the Commission’s proposal, which was more precautionary and recovery-oriented and should have been followed by the ministers. “Ministers have recognised the need for caution, but still allowed more herring to be caught than the Commission proposed. These vulnerable populations need a stronger chance of lasting recovery, with clear rebuilding targets, a timetable for reaching them and measures that are implemented and enforced ,” said Cathrine Pedersen Schirmer, Senior Fisheries Policy Advisor at Coalition Clean Baltic. For Bothnian herring , ministers retained the three-month spawning closure but increased the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) by 12% , despite the population remaining below healthy levels. The Commission’s proposed TAC for this fish population was already a compromise between population rebuilding and maintaining fishing opportunities. The agreed higher TAC poses a risk to the recovery of the Bothnian herring population and creates increasing uncertainty for the industry. “ Fisheries decisions must also account for the risks to fish population recovery. Even catch limits within the ICES advice range can leave stocks at risk of remaining below the biomass levels that should trigger recovery measures. Fishing opportunities must give depleted populations a real chance to recover to healthy level s,” said Beatrice Rindevall, Chairperson of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation. The Gulf of Riga herring TAC was also set above NGOs’ recommendations, with an increase of 11% compared with 2026, despite the recent decline in its spawning biomass and its importance to the Baltic food web. Lower limits for this fish population would have better supported population health and long-term resilience. Sprat: recovery must extend to the Baltic Sea food web The sprat agreement remains a significant concern. The Council’s decision, in line with the Commission’s proposal, to increase the sprat catch limit by 44% to 291 590 tonnes exceeds the level NGOs recommended. Although the population has increased, the agreed limit does not sufficiently account for sprat’s importance as prey for cod, salmon, seabirds and other marine wildlife, persistent catch misreporting or the risk of catching vulnerable herring alongside sprat. “ Herring and sprat are vital to the Baltic Sea ecosystem. When setting fishing opportunities, decision makers must leave enough prey in the water to support predators like cod and salmon, to rebuild ecosystem health and align with the EU’s nature restoration ambitions ,” said Justyna Zajchowska, Fisheries Lead for WWF Baltic Sea Programme. Salmon: no increase in catch limits, but stronger protection needed NGOs welcome the decision not to increase salmon fishing opportunities. However, fishing should be restricted to compensatory hatchery-released salmon or salmon from rivers where populations are at full reproductive capacity. Fishing on vulnerable wild populations must be avoided and, if returning salmon numbers are insufficient, additional adaptive management measures should be deployed immediately, considering the impact of recent poor spawning runs. “ Good returns to some large rivers are encouraging, but they do not demonstrate recovery across the Baltic region. Many smaller river populations remain in serious difficulty. We need fishing restrictions that protect those vulnerable salmon throughout their migration and allow enough fish to reach their spawning grounds ,” said Thomas Johansson, Chairman of Östersjölaxälvar i Samverkan and Secretary General of the Baltic Salmon Fund. Cod, western Baltic herring and plaice: Council misses opportunity to curb bycatch Both Baltic cod populations and western Baltic herring remain severely depleted. Targeted cod fisheries remain closed, while ministers retained the small-scale fisheries exemption for western Baltic herring. Yet ministers agreed bycatch quotas well above the Commission’s proposals for 2027 and at the same level as 2026, falling short of the protection sought by NGOs. For all three populations, the agreed bycatch quotas permit continued catches despite ICES advice for zero catch. The Council’s decision to increase the plaice TAC to 11,237 tonnes , well above the level NGOs recommended, missed an opportunity to secure a reduction in accidental cod catches. The decision also does not reflect the very low reported landings of this species. Declining weight and condition of plaice also warrant greater caution. The TAC must be combined with effective enforcement of mandatory selective gear to reduce cod bycatch and the implementation of the landing obligation. Annual fishing limits must support lasting recovery The Council’s decisions on Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2027 are not ambitious enough to secure restoration of all Baltic Sea fish populations. These decisions should be seen in the context of last year’s joint commitment by the European Commission and Baltic Sea Member States to seek dedicated scientific advice from ICES on rebuilding pathways for fish populations. In the absence of such rebuilding-oriented advice, and whilst we are waiting for it, decisions should be more cautious and based on the available recovery-focused catch options provided by the scientists in their traditional advice. Fisheries management must also support EU marine restoration objectives and the achievement of good environmental status in the Baltic Sea. Restoring fish populations and food webs is essential to the recovery of the sea itself and to the long-term future of Baltic fisheries and the coastal communities that depend on them. ENDS *** Further information: Link to Council decision Link to Commission’s proposal Link to Joint NGO recommendations on Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2027 Media contact: Beatrice Rindevall, Chairperson, Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, ordforande@naturskyddsforeningen.se Cathrine Pedersen Schirmer , Senior Fisheries Policy Advisor, Coalition Clean Baltic, Cathrine@ccb.se Justyna Zajchowska , Fisheries Lead, WWF Baltic Sea Programme, jzajchowska@wwf.pl Dr. Katja Hockun, Senior Expert Meeresschutz, Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V., hockun@duh.de Konrad Stralka , Executive Director, BalticWaters, konrad.stralka@balticwaters.org Magda Jentgena , Baltic Sea and Freshwater Programme Manager, Pasaules Dabas Fonds, mjentgena@pdf.lv Regan McEnroe , Chairperson, Nature and Youth Sweden, ordforande@faltbiologerna.se Tapani Veistola, Executive Director, Suomen luonnonsuojeluliitto (Finnish Association for Nature Conservation), tapani.veistola@sll.fi Thomas Johansson , Chairman, Östersjölaxälvar i Samverkan, and Secretary General, Baltic Salmon Fund, thomas@balticsalmonfund.com .

CCB's submission on sustainable fishing in the EU

By CCB • August 31, 2026
Uppsala, 31 August 2026 - Coalition Clean Baltic (CCB) welcomes the Commission’s recognition that declining fishing pressure has not consistently delivered higher biomass, that recruitment and biomass are deteriorating for a number of stocks, and that Baltic fisheries urgently need rebuilding trajectories. These findings must now shape the Council’s decision on the 2027 fishing opportunities and the Commission’s position during the Council negotiations. The poor status and decline of many Baltic Sea fish populations have been documented over several decades and show that the ecosystem is in severe distress. Cumulative human pressures have contributed to major ecosystem shifts, and at the same time climate change is making the shallow, semi-enclosed Baltic Sea warmer and less saline. These combined pressures affect not only fish biomass but also recruitment, population age and size structures, species interactions and the functioning of the wider food web. The Baltic crisis reflects the persistent failure to fully implement the CFP and the Baltic MAP, including their precautionary safeguards and the legal obligation to apply ecosystem-based fisheries management. Fishing opportunities for 2027 must therefore mark the first concrete step towards ambitious, timebound rebuilding trajectories that reduce fishing pressure and enable depleted populations to recover to healthy levels. These trajectories must include implementation of an ecosystem based approach by accounting for species interactions, food-web needs, habitat conditions, environmental and climatic change and scientific uncertainty, while reinforcing, not replacing the CFP’s objectives and the Baltic MAP’s existing safeguards in Art. 4.6. The Commission’s 2027 proposal is now before the Council. The October Council must turn the commitment to rebuild Baltic fish populations into measurable action by adopting fishing opportunities that deliver rapid and sustained recovery. Under no circumstances should the TACs adopted be higher than levels proposed by the European Commission. Fishing opportunities aligned with scientific evidence, legal safeguards and ecosystem needs are the basis for both a recovering Baltic Sea and viable fisheries in the long term. Read the full CCB's submission and recommendations here .