Scientific Advice: No improvement for collapsed fish stocks - time for a reboot in the Baltic Sea

CCB • June 1, 2022

Brussels, 1 June 2022: Responding to today’s publication of annual scientific advice for 2023 fishing limits in the Baltic Sea by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), a group of non-governmental organisations said that the Baltic Sea remains in a dire condition, despite tightening of fishing limits in recent years, and that governments in the region must urgently implement precautionary, ecosystem-based fisheries management and boost control and enforcement.


The ICES scientific advice [1] shows no improvements of the Baltic fish populations previously considered as depleted, such as Eastern Baltic cod. Although the two Baltic plaice stocks are abundant, the scientists have given a warning signal that the current management of plaice with just one fishing limit for two populations “could lead to the overexploitation of either stock”. The situation of pelagic species is diverse, with the Gulf of Riga herring population growing, while central Baltic herring remains at a worryingly low level.


ICES advises small increases on three stocks (western Baltic cod, plaice and main basin herring), decreases for three stocks (Bothnian sea herring, sprat and Riga herring) zero TAC on one stock (Eastern cod) and a roll over from last years for the two salmon management areas. One stock, western herring, which is severely depleted, is not included in this advice and will be released at a later stage.


“The scientific advice for fishing limits in the Baltic Sea should teach a tragic lesson to EU fisheries ministers: continued overfishing will have permanent repercussions, that not only destroy the ecosystem’s capacity to function, it will decimate the industry that depends upon it”, said Rebecca Hubbard, Program Director Of Our Fish. “Now is the time for the EU Commission to step up and ensure that all fishing in the Baltic Sea has climate and ecosystem impact assessments, and for Member States to allocate the meagre quota available to those fishers with the least environmental impact and delivers the best social and economic benefits, as Article 17 of the Common Fisheries Policy requires.”


“Today’s advice from ICES confirms that the Baltic Sea ecosystem and the fisheries exploiting it are facing the worst crisis ever. Focusing on recovery, measures like cameras onboard to monitor bycatch and use of the best available selective and low impact gear must be made mandatory if any fishing is to happen in this exhausted and fragile ecosystem. Bottom trawling, with all its negative impacts on habitats, species and climate, has no place in the Baltic Sea anymore and must leave room for low impact fishers and angling”, said Jan Isakson, Director of the Fisheries Secretariat.


“The ICES advice highlights once again that we fundamentally need to change the way we manage our fisheries in the Baltic. Besides setting fishing limits that stay within the scientific advice, the fishery of tomorrow needs to be as climate neutral as possible and fully electronically monitored. Decision makers need to do more to protect vulnerable fish habitats from bottom trawling and adopt an ecosystem based fishery,” said Cathrine Pedersen Schirmer from the Danish Society of Nature Conservation.


“The most positive and concrete approach of the scientific advice and management options presented today is for the Baltic salmon stocks. Closing down harmful fishing on weak and stronger stocks intermixed in the open sea and instead focus fishing closer to rivers of origin and at the same time keep total quota low. This is the most useful advice the ICES released today and other stocks need a similar approach to safeguard subpopulations”, says Nils Höglund, Fisheries Policy Officer at Coalition Clean Baltic.


“In a context of climate and environmental crises, fishing must go from being part of the problem to being part of the solution. The latest scientific advice shows that some of the main Baltic fish populations, including cod, herring, and eel, are overexploited and in a critical conservation state. There is an urgent need for Baltic states to not only set the fishing mortality to sustainable levels and minimise the impacts of fishing in the ecosystem, but also to progress towards an ecosystem-based management system in which fishing contributes to bringing back the good environmental status of the Baltic Sea”, said Javier López, Campaign Director for Sustainable Fisheries at Oceana in Europe.


“The dramatic situation of fish stocks in the Baltic shows clearly that we must adapt our fisheries to the reality of the ecosystem, it doesn’t work the other way around. The focus of the coming years needs to be to rebuild the stocks and to restore the ecosystems”, said Christine Adams, Fisheries Policy Officer at Seas At Risk, adding: “Now the European Commission needs to defend that against short-sighted economic interests of fisheries ministers and guide the way into a future where all fishing in the Baltic is low-impact and low-emission.”


“The new scientific advice for Baltic fish stocks continues to emphasise that sprat is an important forage species for Baltic cod, and that multispecies interactions should be considered when managing the sprat fishery. We therefore recommend that the European Commission and Baltic fisheries ministers continue to set sprat fishing limit below the maximum threshold advised by scientists, as was the decision for 2022. This is a step towards implementation of the ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management, a clear requirement of the Common Fisheries Policy,” said Johanna Fox, Director of the WWF Baltic Ecoregion Programme.


ICES also issues advice on non-quota species of flounder and sea trout. Flounder is concerning as the species is caught predominantly as bycatch, is still legally discarded in large amounts, and health of the multiple stocks are not well known.

 

[1] ICES ADVICE LINKS 

Western Baltic Cod (subdivisions 22-24)

Eastern Baltic Cod (subdivisions 24-32) 

Gulf of Bothnia Herring (subdivisions 30 and 31)

Central Baltic Herring (subdivisions 25–29 and 32, excluding the Gulf of Riga)

Gulf of Riga Herring (subdivision 28.1)

Sprat (subdivisions 22–32)

Plaice in Kattegat, Belt Seas, and the Sound (subdivisions 21–23)

Plaice in Baltic Sea (excluding the Sound and Belt Seas, subdivisions 24–32)


The ICES advice for Western Spring Spawning Herring (subdivisions 20–24, Skagerrak, Kattegat, and western Baltic) will be released later, together with the advice for the North East Atlantic stocks.


NOTE: NGOs will produce our recommendations for fishing limits for all Baltic fish stocks for 2022 in the coming weeks.

Contacts: 

Cathrine Pedersen Schirmer, Senior Marine Policy Officer, The Danish Society for Nature Conservation, Cathrine@dn.dk, +45 31 19 32 26


Christine Adams, Fisheries Policy Officer, Seas At Risk, cadams@seas-at-risk.org, +32 465 52 64 52


Dave Walsh, Communications Advisor, Our Fish, dave@our.fish, +34 691 826 764


Emily Fairless, Communications Officer, Oceana, efairless@oceana.org, +32 (0) 478 038 490


Jan Isakson, Director, FishSec, jan.isakson@fishsec.org, +46 70 608 74 83


Johanna Fox, Director, WWF Baltic Ecoregion Programme, johanna.fox@wwf.se, +46 70 009 05 48


Nils Höglund, Fisheries Policy Officer, Coalition Clean Baltic, nils@ccb.se, +46 708 679249

COP30 brings ocean and water to the center of climate policy

By CCB • December 5, 2025
In Belém, in the heart of the Amazon, the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference COP30 immediately set the bar high. In his opening speech, Brazilian President Lula da Silva stressed that climate change is no longer a "threat to the future", but a tragedy that the world is already experiencing here and now, and called on countries to accelerate actions rather than limit themselves to promises. However, as is often the case in COP meetings, the political reality turned out to be more complicated than ambitions. Negotiations were difficult: the countries could not agree on a clear and binding plan to phase out fossil fuels. It is important to note that the Global Action Plan has provided a platform for discussing the development of a roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels, the main driver of climate change. At the same time, COP30 has brought tangible progress in other areas: the countries agreed to triple the amount of adaptation funding for developing countries by 2035, strengthened the forest and ocean agenda, and expanded the range of practical initiatives under the Action Agenda . COP30 consolidated the trend: from "water at the center of the climate crisis" to a holistic ocean agenda closely related to energy, food, biodiversity and sustainable coastal development. From the COP29 Water Declaration to the COP30 Enhanced Ocean Water Program At COP29 in Baku, the Declaration on Water for Climate Action was adopted , with the aim to applying comprehensive approaches to combating the causes and consequences of climate change for water basins, emphasizing also the need to integrate water-related mitigation and adaptation measures into national climate policies, including Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). COP30 did not reverse this logic, but expanded it towards the ocean and coasts. Both processes "aquatic" and "oceanic" are moving in the same direction: integration of water, coasts and ocean into the climate plans of countries; development of nature-based solutions; strengthening transboundary management of water and marine systems; recognizing adaptation as an equal part of climate policy, rather than an "adjunct" to emissions reduction. Task Force on Oceans and the Blue NDC Challenge The international Task Force on Oceans , led by Brazil and France, was officially presented at the high-level ministerial meeting "From Ambition to Implementation: Delivering on Ocean Commitments" on 18 November, integrating oceans into a global mechanism to accelerate the incorporation of marine solutions into national climate plans. The Blue Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Challenge encourages countries to set ocean protection targets when updating their NDCs. The goal is to transition the Blue NDC Challenge into an Implementation Task Force. Members of the Blue NDC Challenge, currently 17 countries, can adopt a broad set of actions aimed at the protection and sustainable use of the oceans.These measures include the sustainable management, conservation, and restoration of coastal and marine ecosystems, supported by tools such as marine spatial planning, integrated coastal zone management, and climate-aligned marine protected areas. Countries are also encouraged to support sustainable and climate-resilient fishing and aquaculture, ensuring ocean health and long-term food security. B razil has set a clear example: its updated NDC includes a separate chapter on the ocean and coastal zones. For the first time, the national climate plan (Plano Clima) until 2035 includes a thematic adaptation plan for these areas. Priorities include the completion of national Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) by 2030 and major programs for the conservation and restoration of mangroves and coral reefs (ProManguezal, ProCoral).

Pathway to Tox-Free Living: Policy and Action

By CCB • November 24, 2025
Leading scientists, consumer advocates and policymakers gathered on November, 18th in Brussels for the conference "From Evidence to Policy: Toward a Tox free Living Environment" . They warned that exposure to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in homes and consumer products represents a silent but severe public health and economic crisis. New findings presented to over 65 participants by the EU Baltic Sea Interreg project NonHazCity3 , LIFE ChemBee and the ToxFree LIFE for All projects as well as revealed widespread contamination of European households by complex chemical mixtures of hormone system disrupting substances (so called endocrine disrupters – EDCs) that contribute to chronic disease and impose enormous health costs. According to the key note speaker Dr. Aleksandra Rutkowska, the home environment is a significant source of exposure to EDCs through indoor air, dust and daily contact with common products. Current research links such exposure to a shocking amount of lifestyle diseases including 22 cancer outcomes, 18 metabolic disorder outcomes and 17 cardiovascular disease outcomes. Scientists also stressed that the crisis spans generations. EDCs trigger epigenetic changes that not only affect today’s population but also future children and even grandchildren. Other effects include reproduction disorders. Over the last decade, 150 million babies were born preterm, and evidence shows that reducing the use of plastics by half could cut the risk of preterm birth by half as well.