About Us
The Fisheries Secretariat (FISH) is a non-profit organisation working towards sustainable fisheries in Europe and worldwide. Our long-term goal is healthy seas with thriving fish stocks and great diversity. We would like to see a profitable fishing sector working within the limits of the marine ecosystem, preserving the marine resources as well as their habitats. Our aim is sustainable use of fish and shellfish with minimal effects on the marine environment.
The Secretariat works towards more sustainable fisheries through information, international co-operation, capacity building and lobbying at an international level, but with a focus on the European Union. FISH has a particular mission to support and help other organisations, as well as the public, with information and knowledge. To achieve this, we are involved in, as well as run, our own projects.
In 2007 the Fisheries Secretariat decided to focus its work on the Baltic Sea region and the critical situation of its two cod stocks. Poland was selected as a key country for this new focus, since it has a high impact on the state of stocks and increasing political liaisons with other countries with a strong fishing sector in EU negotiations, as well as being a powerful advocate in the other former eastern block countries.
FISH has therefore started a number of collaborative projects with Polish NGOs in order to raise public awareness and increase public opinion in the area of professional fishing and its impact on the Baltic Sea environment.
FISH promotes the application of ecosystem-based management and the precautionary approach, together with practical solutions that minimise the effects of fishing on the marine environment. Our work is based on the best available knowledge and information.
To maximise the effects of our efforts, we strive to co-operate with environmental organisations and other stakeholders that share our goal.
In short, to achieve the goals of FISH we:
- track fishery policy development internationally as well as nationally;
- provide information about the fisheries issues in the EU and globally;
- aim to identify solutions and management measures that will make fisheries more sustainable;
- try to change fisheries policy through direct and indirect lobbying;
- collaborate with the industry, NGOs, scientists and other stakeholders to achieve sustainable fisheries;
- encourage public debate about fisheries issues; and
- support our members and other stakeholders in their work.
The Stockholm-based Secretariat was set up in 2003 by three environmental NGOs: the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, WWF Sweden and the Swedish Angler's Association. In May 2009, Nature and Youth Sweden (Fältbiologerna) was admitted as a new member organisation. Our Board members are: Klas Hjelm (chair), Swedish Society for Nature Conservation; Inger Näslund, WWF Sweden; and Stefan Nyström, Swedish Anglers’ Association. FISH currently has five staff.
Our Staff
Niki Sporrong, Director
Email: niki.sporrong@fishsec.orgTel: +46 (0)8 25 07 90
Mobile: +46 (0)708 53 12 25
Niki has a background in marine biology and journalism and has been working with fisheries issues from an environmental perspective since 1997. Over the years, Niki has been involved in projects on, among other things, ecolabelling, subsidies to the sector, indicators on fisheries and the marine environment, governance structures (RACs), EU access agreements and ways of integrating environmental concerns into fisheries policy. She has also been working as a writer, editor and science journalist, for example on marine and coastal issues for the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).
Before taking up the post as Director of the Fisheries Secretariat in March 2004, Niki was a Research Fellow at The Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) in London, heading up their Sustainable Fisheries Programme. At IEEP, she was primarily responsible for following and analysing the continuous development of the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and for creating dialogue between different stakeholders. She was also the editor of the IEEP newsletter on fisheries and environment: El Anzuelo. She started her fisheries work within WWF, taking up posts at WWF-Sweden, the WWF European Policy Office in Brussels, and then within the WWF Campaign team on CFP reform in 2002. Niki enjoys being outdoors, whether foraging for berries and mushrooms in the Swedish forest, scuba diving or digging at her allotment.
Magnus Eckeskog, Policy Officer
Email: magnus.eckeskog@fishsec.orgTel: +46 (0)8 25 07 90
Mobile: +46 (0)70 26 26 056
Magnus has been with the Fisheries Secretariat since August 2005. His main responsibilities include overseeing the project on IUU fishing, control and enforcement issues, and regional cooperation. He is also heavily involved in the Council Briefings, a collaborative effort by FISH and Seas At Risk (SAR), providing views from an environmental perspective on issues on the European Fisheries Council agenda.
Magnus has a background in physical geography and ecosystems analysis, including a Master’s project in Nicaragua as well as studies in conservation biology in Stellenbosch, South Africa. He likes spending his spare time in the water: surfing, swimming or kayaking.
Christian Tsangarides, Policy Officer
Email: christian.tsangarides@fishsec.orgTel: +46 (0)8 25 07 90
Mobile: +46 (0)70 310 21 29
Christian started working with the Fisheries Secretariat in October 2009. He is responsible for the implementation of our project regarding tackling IUU fishing, control and enforcement issues through NGOs in Poland, as well as for cooperation with our network of Baltic NGOs. He is also coordinating the activities of the coalition OCEAN2012 in the Baltic Sea region.
Christian has an interdisciplinary academic background, having initially studied a degree in Social and Political Sciences in Cambridge and then later Natural Resource Management at Stockholm University. His Masters’ thesis was a critique of the management of North Sea cod stocks. Away from work, Christian writes in his spare time and also enjoys politics, puzzles, aesthetics, the news and sport.
Iwona Roman, Regional Support Officer
Email: iwona.roman@fishsec.orgTel: +46 (0)8 25 07 96
Mobile: +46 (0)73 55 20 360
Iwona joined the Fisheries Secretariat in August 2007. Since then, she has been in regular contact with our Polish collaborators keeping abreast of what is happening within the Polish environmental sector, with specific focus on the Polish fisheries. Iwona is responsible for Polish media and policy analysis, and writes articles about environmental and fishery issues in Poland for the FISH website.
Iwona has a broad range of experience, including work with Greenpeace International. In 2006, she joined the Greenpeace ship, Arctic Sunrise, to complete the Baltic Sea leg of the Defending our Oceans tour. As an on-board web editor she addressed the challenges of illegal fishing and over-fishing of cod in the Baltic Sea. Iwona is currently completing an International Master’s Degree in Globalization, Environment, and Social Change at Stockholm University.
In her spare time, Iwona loves to run, mountain bike, and ski.
Henrik Kyhle, Information Officer
Email: henrik.kyhle@fishsec.orgTel: +46 (0)8 25 07 96
Mobile: +46 (0)733 54 55 49
Henrik joined the Secretariat as an Information Officer in September 2008. His main responsibilities include running our website, the production of newsletters and printed information materials, as well as outside media contacts.
Henrik has a long background in journalism; in printed media, as well as radio and television. As a web editor at the Ministry of Agriculture during the Swedish EU Presidency in 2001, he was responsible for Agriculture and Fisheries issues on the Swedish eu2001.se web.
He is an ardent opera lover/critic and a formerly avid marathon runner.
Contact Us
The Fisheries Secretariat
Åsögatan 140
116 24 Stockholm
Sweden
Tel: +46 (0)8 25 07 90
E-mail:
i n f o @ f i s h s e c . o r g