These are the new 2009 catch quotas for some species in the Baltic, as set by the EU Fisheries Ministers on October 27. 2009 Catch Quotas for the Baltic Sea: Species ICES Recommendation Commission Proposal Council Decision Eastern Cod + 15 + 15 + 15 Western Cod – 28 – 15 – 15 Western Herring … Continued
Following the Commission proposal, but neglecting part of ICES recommendations, the EU Fishing ministers decided on a 15 per cent increase for the Eastern cod stock and a 15 per cent decrease for the Western stock, as they set next year’s catch quotas for the Baltic at their recent Council meeting. The Council session also … Continued
On 15-16 October Coalition Clean Baltic arranged a seminar in Riga/Salacgriva, Latvia, to discuss the upcoming European Commission salmon management plan. The seminar also discussed national salmon management efforts and actions needed in those two areas. The seminar gathered environmental NGOs, anglers and scientists from most countries belonging to the Baltic Sea drainage basin, including Russia and Belarus. … Continued
Politics – reduced quotas – and environment – survival rate – have been equally important in rebuilding the Baltic cod stocks, a new report shows. The eastern Baltic cod stock has increased since 2005 and is now higher than ever during the last decade, according to scientists at the International Council for the Exploration of … Continued
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) … Continued
As part of a “survival strategy”, Denmark’s fisheries will move toward Marine Stewardship Council(MSC) eco-label assessments, the Danish Fishermen’s Association told the Fishing News International newsletter, adding that the industrial sandeel fishery will be the next in line for pre-assessment. The association’s Jesper Larsen told the newsletter that the industry was “going down this route … Continued
”I can bear witness to what may happen – because I saw it happen”, Canada’s former Minister of Fisheries Brian Tobin said recently at a Stockholm seminar on the future of the threatened Baltic Cod stocks. Tobin, who served on that post in 1993-96, took over in the aftermath of the total collapse of the … Continued
The Swedish and Danish Societies for Nature Conservation have written a joint letter to their respective ministers for fisheries, demanding zones with total fishing bans in the Kattegat part of the North Sea. The cod stocks there are seen as severely threatened, maybe more so than anywhere else in the world, and several local stocks … Continued
A recent World Bank report concludes that marine capture fisheries are an underperforming global asset and that better management could raise net benefits with up to $50 billion per year. The cumulative economic loss to the global economy over the last three decades is estimated to be in the order of two trillion dollars, according … Continued
A new Greenpeace blacklist database of ”irresponsible fishing operators” has encouraged the organization’s Stockholm office to offer an award of up to EUR 1,000 for anyone whose tip-off leads to a guilty verdict or the scrapping of the ship. “Hopefully people working in ports or out at sea will check out suspicious ships in our … Continued