The Baltic Sea Advisory Committee (BSAC) working group and BALTFISH held back-to-back meetings in Warsaw earlier this week.
Technical measures were the main agenda point for the BSAC working group, explicitly how to modify the existing technical measures regulation in light of the recently implemented landing obligation. With prescriptive regulation still active on what kind of gears fishermen may use, and now the obligation to land all of their targeted catch, fishermen are increasingly frustrated.
The discussion has previously stalled on the increased monitoring and reporting needs that accompany more freedom in gear modification. With a view to breaking the impasse and in recognition that the current technical regulations are contrary to the goals of the landing obligation, the NGO community supported industry in enabling more flexibility for gear modification.
At the close of this relatively productive day, the working group agreed to continue exploring two key changes to the existing technical measures. A smaller drafting group will consider proposing a revision to the active mobile fishing gear regulation, including a maximum mesh size for sandeel, sprat, and herring and a minimum mesh size for other Baltic species listed in the regulation. These changes require careful consideration and rewording of the technical regulation to close unintended loopholes. Also an evaluation procedure is needed to examine progress toward faithful implementation of the landing obligation. We emphasise that increased freedom in gear development requires an increase in monitoring and reporting.
Under BALTFISH’s new Polish presidency, Baltic quotas, the stalled Baltic Multiannual Plan, and an update on the newly implemented discard ban were on the agenda during the BALTFISH Forum. Member States invited comments and discussion from representatives from BSAC, industry and NGOs. Substantial discussions took place around the potentially considerable cuts to Baltic cod TACs advised by the International Council for Exploitation of the Sea (ICES). In a positive new development, ICES was represented by Eskild Kirkegaard (Chair of ICES Advisory Committee) who presented the latest ICES advice and was able to respond to comments and questions. We hope this open dialogue aids the grounding of decisions in scientific advice.
The Commission informally shared insight into their proposal for 2016 Baltic TACs. The proposal largely supports the ICES advice, but we are concerned about their advice for Baltic cod which you can read more about in our article here. BALTFISH received additional presentations concerning the landing obligation and data collection issues from the European Fisheries Control Agency and Archipelago, a Canadian based company sharing their experience in fisheries data collection and monitoring.
At the end of the meeting NGOs raised concern over the overlap of responsibility between HELCOM and BALTFISH on the delayed salmon plan. Marcin Rucinski, chairing the BALTFISH Forum and also chair of the HELCOM Fish group, indicated synergies through his role, and responded that these issues would be discussed. NGOs also asked for more transparency in the procedures and organisational matters of BALTFISH, which the presidency will look into, but was not optimistic of long-term infrastructural changes (such as a website) owing to limited resources of BALTFISH.
The Forum meeting was followed by a closed meeting of the BALTFISH High Level Group, where Baltic Member States will discuss on their recommendation for 2016 Baltic TACs. The final Council decision on Baltic TACs will come in 22-23 October.