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

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 .