Successful implementation of an action plan to save Baltic salmon has lead to a suggested fivefold increase in juvenile salmon over the past decade, a scientific report says.
The evaluation by The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) of the 1997 Baltic Salmon Action Plan predicts the number of smolt (juvenile salmon) in that area to reach 2.7 millions by 2010, five times higher than the corresponding number in 1997.
Experts at the Swedish Board of Fisheries cite diminished fishing as an important factor, adding that the driftnet ban in the Baltic in effect since 1 January 2008 is expected to further improve the stock.
A dramatically worsening situation for the Baltic salmon in the 1990’s, both due to overfishing and the hard-hitting M74 disease, lead to the International Baltic Sea Fishery Commission’s (IBSFC) adoption of the 1997 action plan. The plan was not considered sufficient by environmental interest, but did contain new management components. Because of the expansion of EU membership, the IBSFC ceased to function in 2005 and Baltic salmon management is now agreed in bilateral negotiations between the EU and Russia.
Catch quotas were reduced in the action plan, and since 2000 the actual (reported) landings of Baltic salmon have been lower than the agreed quota (however often higher than the scientific recommendations). One reason for this has been decreased profitability in the trade. In 2007, the total of reported landings was only 42 per cent of the Total allowable catch (TAC), and from 2007 to 2008, the TAC was lowered from 428,697 salmon to 364,392. A driftnet ban implemented on 1 January 2008 has yet to prove efficient, but Swedish experts expect effects on the stocks will show later on.
On the whole, experts express guarded optimism about the future for the Baltic salmon, adding that some uncertainty does remain, primarily about the nature of the M74 disease and around the fact that the species’ survival in the open sea now seems to deteriorate, for reasons still to be explained. The latter problem mainly concerns reared salmon, but is also true to some extent for the natural stock.
The European Commission is currently preparing a proposal for a new long-term management plan for Baltic salmon, which is expected in 2009 and could possibly take effect in 2010. To that end, the ICES has worked out a proposed plan that includes a new 75 per cent goal for the increase in smolt production.