Today, the 31st of October 2023, HELCOM released its new holistic assessment of the state of the Baltic Sea. Every 6th year a new assessment is done, this is the third one called HOLAS 3. It is a massive report comprising five themes into one large holistic assessment: 1) biodiversity, 2) eutrophication, 3) hazardous substances, … Continued
Yesterday at the Agrifish council meeting, fisheries ministers agreed on the Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2024. The Commission proposal, which emphasised the urgent need of precautionary measures for several fish stocks, was downplayed, leaving business as usual as the main outcome. The most unsettling decisions concerned the Bothnian and Central Baltic herring populations. … Continued
PRESS RELEASE from: BalticWaters, Coalition Clean Baltic, ClientEarth, the Danish Society for Nature Conservation, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, The Fisheries Secretariat, Oceana, Seas At Risk, Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, and WWF Baltic Ecoregion Programme. Luxembourg, 24 October 2023: Today EU fisheries ministers have taken decisions concerning declining Baltic Sea herring stocks that will actively contribute to … Continued
On 23rd October, EU fisheries ministers will set Baltic Sea fishing limits for next year. Their decisions will likely breach EU law and worsen the dire state of the Baltic Sea, as Member States have made clear that they don’t support cuts to Baltic fishing opportunities in order to bring them in line with legal … Continued
Tracking fish through telemetry and other methods is a research field of high importance when learning about fish ecology, as well as the promising field of eDNA. On the 16th of October the annual FishBase symposium took place, and FishSec participated and presented a poster from our eel project BALTEEL-RECO. Exiting take aways from the … Continued
On the 28th of August 2023 the European Commission released its proposal for the Fishing Opportunities in the Baltic Sea 2024. This is their press release: “Today, the Commission has adopted its proposal for the 2024 fishing opportunities for the Baltic Sea in response to a scientific assessment that indicates several fisheries are in … Continued
On 12 July, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) approved one of the key laws for protection of nature – the nature restoration law, after months of heated debate. On 12 July, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) approved one of the key laws for protection of nature – the nature restoration law, after months … Continued
The Baltic Sea ecosystem is in severe distress and the major commercial fish stocks have never been in worse condition. In October 2023, EU fisheries ministers will agree on fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea for 2024. We have provided joint NGO recommendations on Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2024 in the context of environmental regulations, EU … Continued
On May 31st, the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) published its scientific advice. Adding to an already dire situation for cod, ICES now advises that drastic cuts in fishing for Baltic herring are also necessary. NGOs and small scale fishermen alike react with calls for urgent action to taken by decision … Continued
On 25 April 2023, the Forum on Recreational Fisheries and Aquatic Environment organised an event on the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) instrument in regard of a sustainable fish stock structure management. The conference was chaired by MEP Caroline Roose and MEP Isabel Carvalhais and took place in the European Parliament and online. This is … Continued