Fisheries ministers poised to breach EU law and exacerbate Baltic ecosystem crisis, NGOs warn

CCB • October 19, 2023

On 23rd October, EU fisheries ministers will set Baltic Sea fishing limits for next year. Their decisions will likely breach EU law and worsen the dire state of the Baltic Sea, as Member States have made clear that they don't support cuts to Baltic fishing opportunities in order to bring them in line with legal obligations. NGOs are urging fisheries ministers to suspend the fishing of severely depleted stocks, as foreseen by EU law in these circumstances.

To prevent the collapse of fish populations, EU multiannual management plans require that fishing opportunities are set so that fish populations are at the very least kept above a minimum level (1). This year, due to persistent overfishing, scientific data shows that two herring stocks in the central and northern Baltic are now at or below this clear red line. Any targeted fishery on these herring stocks would be in breach of EU law. 


Detailed rules for how to set fishing quotas and agree on emergency measures, including the option of complete fisheries closures, are set out under EU multi-annual management plans, in line with the objectives of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Following the rules of the Baltic multi-annual management plan and the status of these herring populations, the European Commission has proposed to close the targeted fishery for herring in these two areas. 


To date, however, Baltic Member States have argued that the Commission proposal is going too far, and have questioned the interpretation of the regulations in place. In doing so, the Member States are disregarding the very clear rules and the obvious fact that both these herring populations are below the agreed minimum levels.


Nils Höglund, Senior policy officer at CCB, said: “By aiming to evade the rules in the Baltic management plan and the CFP in relation to avoiding fish stock collapse, and pushing to keep what is largely a fishmeal fishery open, the Council is breaching both EU fisheries and environmental legislation, such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The possibility to reach good environmental status is likely made near impossible by the Agrifish Council. This approach must be deemed doubly illegal”. 


Sara Söderström, Policy officer at the Fisheries Secretariat, said: “The health of the Baltic Sea ecosystem depends on forage fish such as herring and sprat, which feed other fish, mammals and seabirds. It is clear that when we remove large amounts of biomass it disrupts the food web and negatively affects the age and size distribution of herring, defying the targets in both the CFP and the MSFD. If we are to achieve an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management, a much more precautionary approach must be applied.” 


Bruno Nicostrate, Senior Policy Officer at Seas At Risk, said: “If EU Fisheries Ministers fail to comply with EU law not only will they contribute to the disappearance of Baltic herring populations, they will also pave the way for the decimation of other fish species. EU Member States must respect the very laws they have co-designed and signed up to and prevent this impending ecocide by putting a stop to fishing of endangered fish populations." 


Javier Lopez, Campaign Director of sustainable fisheries at Oceana in Europe, said: “It is inconceivable to see EU Member States attempting to set catch limits for Baltic stocks that ignore the very rules they have created themselves. Several populations of iconic species such as eastern Baltic cod and central Baltic herring are in a critical state and targeted fishing of them must stop. Ministers cannot cherry-pick the law for political expediency, but must rather apply it comprehensively for the sake of the health and sustainability of fisheries.”


ClientEarth marine wildlife and habitats lawyer Arthur Meeus said: “According to EU law, overfishing should have ended by 2020 for all stocks. Instead, overfishing of already depleted stocks continues not only in the Baltic, but throughout the EU’s seas. It is high time for a clear court decision to put an end to this systemic issue. Multiple court cases are already underway to get this much needed clarity and we are eagerly awaiting the first judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union. This official ruling from the EU’s top Court will be crucial to finally give EU fisheries rules the teeth needed to ensure Member States can only manage fisheries in line with science and the law going forward.”



BACKGROUND 


Herring and sprat play key roles in the Baltic ecosystem as they are a food source for predators, like cod and salmon and also regulate plankton. Today, this valuable resource is mainly used for fish meal, rather than human consumption.

According to the latest scientific data, herring in the central Baltic Sea is in a critical condition with a disheartening outlook. The Bothnian herring is also in a critical state and experts note that even with a complete fishing closure, the stock will not recover in the short term. Article 4(6) of the Baltic multiannual management plan explicitly requires that “Fishing opportunities shall in any event be fixed in such a way as to ensure that there is less than a 5 % probability of the spawning stock biomass falling below Blim”. The herring stocks in question are already below this biological reference point Blim, below which reproduction is impaired and the risk of stock collapse is very high. Setting fishing limits at levels associated with a higher than 5% risk of the stocks remaining below this level, as seems to be the intention of Baltic Member States, will be in breach of the law.


In 2020, Friends of the Irish Environment and ClientEarth challenged the EU Council’s decision to set limits for several Northeast Atlantic fish stocks above sustainable levels before an Irish Court.


In a legal first, the Irish judge asked the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) to judge on the validity of this European regulation setting fishing limits in the Northeast Atlantic. Following a hearing held in March 2023 in front of the CJEU, Advocate General Ćapeta delivered an Opinion in June 2023 claiming that unsustainable fishing limits in the Northeast Atlantic were illegal and recommended that governments set all fishing limits at sustainable levels from now on. The environmental groups are now waiting for the final ruling from the CJEU.


ClientEarth is also expecting hearings this year for two other cases launched in 2022 against the EU Council for the setting of unsustainable fishing limits for EU-only stocks and stocks shared between the EU and the UK.


NOTES: 


(1) Article 4.6 of the multiannual plan for the stocks of cod, herring, and sprat in the Baltic Sea states that: “Fishing opportunities shall in any event be fixed in such a way as to ensure that there is less than a 5 % probability of the spawning stock biomass falling below the limit spawning stock biomass reference point (Blim) set out in particular in Annex II, column B.” https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02016R1139-20201201 



ENDS 


CONTACTS 

Tampering with EU Fisheries Policy would ‘open Pandora’s Box’, NGOs warn

By CCB • March 30, 2026
Brussels, 30 March 2026 - Today, Fisheries Ministers from EU Member States meet with the European Commission for the AGRIFISH Council. On this occasion, Oceana, BLOOM, ClientEarth, Coalition Clean Baltic (CCB), Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), Seas At Risk and WWF EU, handed a symbolic ''Pandora’s Box'' to the EU Commissioner Costas Kadis, sending a clear message as the European Commission prepares its 2026 evaluation of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The box represents the risks of revising EU’s main fishery policy framework: once opened, competing demands from Member States, industry, small-scale fishers, and coastal communities could quickly spiral into division, regulatory delays and uncertainties. This would put at risk the hard-won progress made in restoring Europe’s fish populations and improving the profitability of the fishing sector. NGOs urge decision makers to build on the progress made to date and to prioritise the full and timely implementation of the existing rules. Reopening the CFP and its related provisions would undermine ocean health and the long-term future of Europe’s fishing communities. '' Europe's fisheries policy is facing a credibility test. The law is already there. The tools to rebuild our seas already exist. What's missing is the political will to deliver. Overfishing should have ended by 2020 at the latest. Reopening the CFP would signal that missed deadlines carry no consequences, erode trust, revert the progress made, and put the future of our fisheries and coastal communities at stake ’’, said the NGO coalition. *** Oceana: Vera Coelho, Executive Director and Vice President in Europe BLOOM: Claire Nouvian, Founder and General Director ClientEarth: John Condon, Lead of Marine Ecosystems Coalition Clean Baltic (CCB): Ida Carlén, Co-Chair Environmental Justice Foundation: Steve Trent, CEO/Founder Seas At Risk: Dr Monica Verbeek, Executive Director WWF EU: Ester Asin, Director

CCB´s submission to the EU Call for Evidence on the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)

By CCB • March 10, 2026
Uppsala, March 2026 - CCB has closely worked with the implementation of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) ever since its adoption and welcomed the opportunity to give feedback to this crucial directive for marine biodiversity and ocean health through the EU Call of Evidence . Evaluations conducted by the EU Commission previously found many positive effects for EU marine waters stemming from the directive, but also that the directive has some shortcomings. CCB however, maintains that the largest obstacle to fully implementing the directive and achieving Good Environmental Status (GES) is the lack of political will among Member States to do so. This forthcoming revision must therefore result in a framework directive that is more easily enforceable, measurable and implementable, accompanied by sufficient funding to carry out the measures. Furthermore, in order to achieve GES as fast as possible other key pieces of EU legislation must also support reaching it and focus on achieving the goals of the MSFD in their objectives. Seeing that European seas generally are in poor condition and under mounting pressure from human activities and that in the Baltic Sea the situation is especially dire there is an urgent need for truly ecosystem-based management of our seas and for reaching GES. The revised MSFD can help us achieve this, but only if it includes the points outlined below and the directive is fully and swiftly implemented: *** [Short version]*** Operationalise the overarching GES goal: EU sea areas were supposed to reach GES already in 2020, but due to low political ambition, sadly did not do so. Member States should therefore strive to reach GES as fast as possible now. Setting a new overall deadline for when to reach GES is not the answer on how to achieve this goal most efficiently, instead tools that address pressures and measure progress and ensure actual, timely implementation of ambitious measures must be included in the revised directive in order to operationalise achieving the overall GES goal. CCB therefore recommends making the existing and forthcoming threshold values for the descriptors and their criteria legally binding and part of the main directive. Improving regional coordination and implementation: To improve the coherence, coordination and effectiveness of MSFD implementation, assessment of GES, monitoring and the national PoMs the role of the Regional Seas Conventions (RSCs) must be clarified. CCB would welcome collating all the national PoMs into one regional PoM for the Baltic Sea, which should be aligned with, in addition to reaching the goals of the MSFD, with achieving the goals of the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP). Land-sea interface: For the Baltic Sea to achieve GES it is key that land-based pressures, primarily nutrient runoff from agriculture causing severe eutrophication, is also addressed and that implementation of the MSFD goes hand in hand with the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The goals of the MSFD and achieving GES should also be included when implementing and shaping the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), as well as any synergies with implementing the EU Zero Pollution Action Plan which are also important to identify and utilise. The Baltic Sea also has a too high prevalence and level of other pollutants and hazardous substances affecting marine life. Fisheries and aquaculture: As one of the main pressure factors on the marine environment in general, as well as in the Baltic Sea, fisheries and aquaculture and the effects they have on the marine ecosystem and its biodiversity must be addressed in order to achieve GES. This is especially crucial when considering the MSFD descriptor for Biodiversity (D1), Fish and Shellfish (D3), Food webs (D4) and the one for Seabed integrity (D6). Climate change: Climate change is also affecting the Baltic Sea faster than other marine regions and must be factored in when managing the sea area and its resources to ensure EBM and the full implementation of the MSFD and achieving GES. The effects of the climate crisis should be accounted for when setting pressure reduction targets and threshold values for the descriptors and their criteria, in a way that when an effect cannot be measured nor predicted the precautionary principle must be used. Revising Art. 14 of the MSFD: Article 14 in the MSFD outlines the acceptable exceptions when reaching GES is not possible. The article needs to be revised in the forthcoming revision, since it contains too many and too broad in scope possibilities for exemptions (e.g. in Art. 14(4)), which jeopardise the implementation and fulfilment of the directive as a whole. A possible way of modifying it would be to introduce an obligation for Member States to demonstrate that they have taken all measures within their control nationally and that they have tried to address the problem and advance solving it on a regional level through cooperating with other Member States, before they can apply for a possible exemption. Make the Programme of Measures contain ambitious & concrete measures: One of the cornerstones of the MSFD is the national PoMs that are published every six years and are precluded by an assessment of GES in national waters and a monitoring programme. Unfortunately, the current approach to PoMs where Member States freely can choose measures has led to an overall too low level of ambition in the PoMs, and to large differences within regions and between neighboring countries in terms of which measures are included. In order to fully implement the directive and to achieve GES it is of paramount importance that the national PoMs have a high level of ambition and contain concrete, implementable measures and that there is regional coordination. Easing the reporting burden: One of the results from the evaluation of the MSFD was that the current reporting burden is considered to be too high and a possible way to address this is to align the reporting obligations of the MSFD to more reassemble those of the WFD, that has a more simplified 6-year cycle compared to the MSFD. The implementation cycle however should not be revised or at least not in a way that delays reaching GES. Improve coherence with other legislation: To ensure that the revised MSFD is fully implemented it is essential that coherence with other relevant legislation is improved. The MSPD (foundation for the forthcoming Ocean Act) is also currently being revised and to reach the goals for both the directives achieving GES needs to be a cornerstone of the Ocean Act. This is the only way to deliver truly ecosystem-based management of our seas, and the revision of both directives should therefore be coordinated and focused on achieving GES. CCB looks forward to continuing to provide input to the revision process of the MSFD as well as working with the implementation of the MSFD, especially in the Baltic Sea. CCB expects that the revision will result in a more enforceable directive that leads to the fast implementation of ambitious measures to improve the state of the Baltic and European Sea areas and to the achievement of GES. The full text of the submission is available here . *** Links to supplemental documents supporting our positions: CCB’s submission to the Call for Evidence for the Ocean Act Guiding Recommendations for Source-to-Sea Restoration in Riverine, Coastal, and Marine Ecosystems (Coalition Clean Baltic, 2025) Position Paper on Marine Protected Areas (Coalition Clean Baltic 2024) Don’t sink the Common Fisheries Policy – fulfil its potential (joint NGO Briefing 2025) Blue Manifesto (joint NGO paper)