NGOs welcome scientists’ advice to halt bycatch of endangered Baltic Proper harbour porpoise

CCB • May 26, 2020

Scientists from the International Council for the Exploration (ICES) have published a landmark advice today, warning the European Commission that immediate action is needed to protect two critically vulnerable marine mammals.

ICES has urged the Commission to introduce emergency measures to prevent the needless deaths of thousands of common dolphins in the Bay of Biscay and harbour porpoises in the Baltic Sea, killed every year as bycatch in fishing nets. 

In the Baltic Sea, the harbour porpoise is critically endangered. With only a few hundred animals left it is commonly called Europe’s vaquita, referring to the almost extinct Mexican Gulf of California porpoise, the vaquita. The bycatch of even a single reproductive female is likely to have a devastating effect on the population’s chances of survival, and the implementation of the measures proposed by ICES is a crucial step towards saving the Baltic Proper harbour porpoise.

 

Environmental groups welcome this advice, which follows action taken last year by 22 environmental groups, including ClientEarth, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, Seas At Risk, Coalition Clean Baltic, France Nature Environnement, and IFAW. 

 

Answering NGOs’ concerns, scientists have specifically asked the Commission to implement spatio-temporal closures of especially static net fisheries in some important harbour porpoise areas in Sweden, Germany and Poland as well as large-scale use of pingers in the Baltic Proper. ICES also calls for improved monitoring of fishing effort and bycatch, to gain better knowledge on high risk areas and -gears.

ICES has also highlighted that protection measures will only be effective when applied over a long-term period. Accordingly, the Commission should not only adopt these measures as a first step in the short-term, but also ensure that the EU countries responsible adopt measures for the long-term survival of these populations. ICES has recommended an adaptive management approach with enhanced monitoring of common dolphin and harbour porpoise as well as bycatch in fisheries.

Ida Carlén, harbour porpoise expert at Coalition Clean Baltic, said:

We welcome the publication of the ICES advice, which draws on the best available scientific knowledge to set out clearly what the Commission and the Member States must do in the short term to save these cetacean populations. As stated in the ICES advice, it is of great importance that similar or even stronger measures are also implemented in the long term.

ClientEarth’s marine habitat lawyer John Condon said:

This conclusion underscores that Member States are failing to take their legal duties seriously to prevent bycatch. The Commission has an obligation to fulfil its role as the guardian of EU law by taking legal action against the EU countries that fail to prevent these unnecessary deaths.

Seas At Risk’s Senior Marine Policy officer, Alice Belin, said:

We are very concerned about the future of certain marine mammal populations in European waters, which are under huge pressure from fisheries bycatch. We encourage the European Commission to do everything it can to protect these animals by quickly taking on board ICES’ advice, which draws on the best available scientific knowledge.

Sarah Dolman from Whale and Dolphin Conservation said:

This scientific advice comes after the Commission has itself acknowledged the severity of dolphin and porpoise bycatch in its recent EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. For nearly 30 years, Member States have not complied with European law on tackling bycatch and as a result, emergency measures are now required to protect common dolphins in the Bay of Biscay and harbour porpoises in the Baltic. The ball is now in the Commission’s court. It must take action to save cetacean lives.

ENDS

Read the PR in Swedish here.

Notes to editors

The Baltic Sea harbour porpoise is listed by IUCN and HELCOM as critically endangered. Today its geographical range is significantly smaller than its historical one, and there are only a few hundred animals left. While pollution and disturbance through underwater noise may be contributing to the population failing to recover, bycatch is the one acute threat causing direct mortalities in significant numbers. Given the small size of the population, the sex ratio and age distribution and the proportion of females that are potentially infertile due to high contaminant load, there may be less than 100 fertile females remaining in the Baltic Proper. Losing even one of those females could have a devastating effect on the ability of the population to recover or even stay stable.

Hence, to allow this critically endangered population to recover, bycatch must be reduced to an absolute minimum, ideally to zero. To date, initiatives from Member States to minimize bycatch are very limited and the long and slow process for Member States to agree on joint measures for nature conservation purposes under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is currently risking the survival of the population. 

Bycatch refers to the incidental capture in fishing gear of dolphins, porpoises, and other marine species, usually resulting in death.

Pingers are devices that transmit short high-pitched signals at brief intervals to alert the animals to the presence of fishing gear.

List of NGOs involved in the joint action: Whale and Dolphin Conservation, ClientEarth, Seas At Risk, Coalition Clean Baltic, Coastwatch Europe, Danish Society for Nature Conservation, Ecologistas en Accion, The Fisheries Secretariat, Fundació ENT, France Nature Environnement, Humane Society International, International Foundation for Animal Welfare, Irish Wildlife Trust, Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux, Marine Conservation Society, Natuurpunt, Oceana, OceanCare, Our Fish, Sciaena, Sea Shepherd France, Sustainable Water Network SWAN, Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, Wildlife and Countryside Link Bycatch sub-group, WWF.

About:

Coalition Clean Baltic
Coalition Clean Baltic is a network of 24 organisations from all countries surrounding the Baltic Sea. The main aim is to promote the protection and improvement of the environment and natural resources of the Baltic Sea Region.

Seas At Risk
Seas At Risk is an umbrella organisation of environmental NGOs from across Europe that promotes ambitious policies at European and international level for the protection and restoration of the marine environment.

ClientEarth
ClientEarth is a charity that uses the power of the law to protect people and the planet. We are international lawyers finding practical solutions for the world’s biggest environmental challenges. We are fighting climate change, protecting oceans and wildlife, making forest governance stronger, greening energy, making business more responsible and pushing for government transparency.

Whale and Dolphin Conservation
WDC, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, is the leading global charity dedicated to the conservation and protection of whales and dolphins.  We defend these remarkable creatures against the many threats they face through campaigns, lobbying, advising governments, conservation projects, field research and rescue.

IFAW
The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is a global non-profit helping animals and people thrive together. We work across seas, oceans, and in more than 40 countries around the world. We rescue, rehabilitate, and release animals, and we restore and protect their natural habitats. Together, we pioneer new and innovative ways to help all species flourish. See how at ifaw.org.

France Nature Environnement
France Nature Environnement (FNE) is a French NGO working on a range of environmental areas including oceans and marine biodiversity conservation. FNE gathers more than 3500 local NGOs from all France including overseas territories, and FNE’s objective is to give them a voice and to protect the environment at a local, regional, national and European level.

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)