News
April 17, 2019
Code of conduct to address conflicts of interest in ICES
Science and scientists are given an increasing role in the development and implementation of European fisheries and environmental policy. As such, the International Council on the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) has an agreement with the European Commission to provide scientific advice.
April 16, 2019
TV Documentary: The cod – hope of the Baltic Sea
A new Swedish TV-documentary airing on Tuesday 16 April paints a depressing picture of the Eastern Baltic Cod stock. However, ‘The cod – hope of the Sea’, Torsken – havets hopp, also provides a glimmer of hope for the iconic species and the Baltic Sea ecosystem.
April 12, 2019
EU report: Europe risks missing legal deadline to end overfishing
“Many stocks remain overfished and/or outside safe biological limits, and … progress achieved until 2017 seems too slow to ensure that all stocks will be rebuilt and managed according to FMSY by 2020.”, which is the legal deadline set by the EU Common Fisheries Policy, CFP.
April 11, 2019
Eastern Baltic cod: Fisheries Ministers urged to implement emergency measures
Baltic NGOs have today written to all Baltic EU Members states urging them to introduce emergency measures to protect the eastern Baltic cod stock in accordance with Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) rules.
April 10, 2019
Adapt or die: Research indicates that management must change or Western Baltic cod fishery will collapse due to climate change
In the recent paper “Ecological-economic sustainability of the Baltic cod fisheries under ocean warming and acidification”, lead author Rudi Voss highlights the need to implement adaptive management and reduce fishing pressure in order to mitigate the impact of climate change and allow for a commercial fishery in the decades to come.
March 29, 2019
Norway announces spawning closure for Skagerrak cod
In order to help the coastal fishery in southern Norway, Norwegian Fisheries Minister, Harald T.Nesvik, has announced a package of measures. All fishing for cod will be prohibited close to shore and from 1 January until 30 April in 14 areas where the cod spawn. Measures also include that any bycatch of cod must be released and an increased seal quota.
March 28, 2019
NGOs call on Commission to meet 2020 deadline and end overfishing
In a letter to the Commission regarding their proposals for fishing opportunities in 2020, NGOs highlight that this is the last opportunity to meet the 2020 legal deadline to end overfishing.
March 27, 2019
MSC leads the way against mislabelling and fraud
A new study “DNA barcoding validates species labelling of certified seafood” shows that less than 1% of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified seafood products are incorrectly labelled against a global industry average of 30%.
March 15, 2019
Swedish food industry together with WWF call for an end to illegal discarding
In a letter to the Swedish government representatives from several of the largest national food industry companies together with The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have requested that "the government must urgently take action [to end illegal discarding] and introduce CCTV/camera surveillance on board fishing vessels".
March 5, 2019
More garbage caught than cod – NGOs request the Baltic fishery is closed for six months
NGOs have written to the Commission requesting they make use of “emergency measures” legislation and close the eastern Baltic cod fishery for six months, with immediate effect, due to the “serious threat to marine biological resources”. In addition, they recommend “to move at least a portion of the sprat fishery…to maximise the availability of prey for the cod”.