In response to the admission of “three fishing interest organisations” to the Other Interest Group of the South-West Waters Advisory Council (SWW AC), environmental NGOs wrote to the Commission to announce the suspension of their activities.
Baltic quotas for 2017, closures for the Baltic cod fisheries, and EU technical measures filled the agenda during the first BALTFISH forum under the German Presidency.
At the working group meeting of the Baltic Sea Advisory Council (BSAC) in Copenhagen on 16 August, the Commission proposal, published in early March, on the Technical Measures Framework (TMF) was discussed for the first time by the Advisory Council.
In a first, the Baltic Sea Advisory Council (BSAC) Executive Committee took the drafted advice for 2017 fishing opportunities and rewrote it after issues with the initial draft from the working group. Following many hours of discussion and negotiation, the working relationships of most members have improved through the development of this document. There seems to be a better understanding and appreciation of views in BSAC, despite disagreements, which can only be a positive development.
Marcin Rucinski, who has spent more than a decade focused on fisheries issues within the Polish administration, is the new Baltic and North Sea coordinator for Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE).
The Baltic multiannual plan (Baltic MAP, or the Plan) is expected to be passed into legislation on 23 June 2016, after being rubber stamped at the European Parliament plenary. This is the final legislative step to be concluded under co-decision. It will likely enter into force by September 2016.
A moment of truth for the Common Fisheries Policy
The Fisheries Secretariat provides below our summary after The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) released its scientific advice for Baltic Sea stocks yesterday, 31 May.
In response to the lack of publically available information and scientific advice to support Council decisions relating to EU fishing quotas, Transparency International (TI) has made a series of proposals to help end overfishing.
At the 7th World Fisheries Congress, hosted in Busan, South Korea, Ray Hilborn, a professor at the University of Washington focused on fisheries management was awarded the International Fisheries Science prize.