The Polish government held a conference entitled “state of the fish stocks in the Baltic Sea, particularly cod stocks – prognosis for management for 2019” in Szczecin along the Baltic coast.
At the conference the serious threats to the cod, in particular the eastern Baltic cod stock, were highlighted and discussions also took place on a “spatial management plan for the sprat fishery in Subdivisions 25-26”.
ICES have recommended such a spatial management plan to be developed since 2013 with the aim of improving the food supply to cod where it is most abundant. They also advise that such a plan would improve the growth potential of herring and sprat stocks in more northerly areas of the Baltic Sea.
In addition, the conference discussed “potential ways for improving protection of the fish during spawning”. The Polish government are exploring proposals to adjust the spawning closure area.
According to the FAO such a spawning closure is only effective for Baltic cod if fishing is also stopped outside of the spawning area.
We have provided links to the in-depth presentations from the conference below.