Positions & Papers

Amending the Baltic multiannual management plan – Bothnian herring
February 15, 2018

Improving and facilitating assessment of the landing obligation
February 15, 2018
The Fisheries Secretariat has responded to the European Commission consultation on the landing obliation and submitted this contribution as part of our work in the Baltic Sea Advisory Council after a questionnaire was produced for Member States and producer organisations as a way of improving the implementation of the landing obligation and ending the wasteful practice of discards in European waters.

Revision of the EU Fisheries Control System – Joint NGO letter
December 20, 2017
In this letter the undersigned organisations have requested a meeting with the European Commission to discuss the revision of the EU Fisheries Control System.

Northeast Atlantic and North Sea TACs 2018: Council briefing from the Fisheries Secretariat & Seas at Risk
December 4, 2017
This joint NGO letter and annex one and two from the Fisheries Secretariat, Seas At Risk, The Pew Charitable Trusts, Oceana and ClientEarth provides recommendations to the Fisheries Council on the European Commission’s proposal on fishing opportunities in the Northeast Atlantic and North Sea for 2018. The Fisheries Council will conclude on 12 December, and we ask the Council to endorse our recommendations in order to meet the requirements of the Common Fisheries Policy and to ensure a more sustainable utilisation of our common marine resources.

Protecting the eel stock – Questions to EU Ministers
November 24, 2017
- Do you agree that the state of the European eel is critical and that eel must have better protection than what the current recovery plan provides?
- What further measures do you envisage in addition to closing the EU-wide marine fisheries?
- What measures will you take at a national level to further protect the European eel?

Council brief on Baltic TACs for 2018
September 27, 2017
This briefing provides recommendations to the Fisheries Council on the European Commission’s proposal on fishing opportunities in the Baltic for 2018. This is the first time the Commission has proposed a prohibition of fishing on the endangered eel.
Quotas will be set in line with the measures outlined in the Baltic multiannual management plan. The Fisheries Council will conclude on 10 October, and we ask the Council to endorse our recommendations in order to ensure more sustainable utilisation of our common marine resources.
Annex I provides a detailed set of recommendations for the main commercial stocks in the Baltic Sea and Annex II is a briefing detailing our support for the prohibition on eel fishing.

Baltfish briefing on Baltic TACs for 2018
August 28, 2017
This briefing provides recommendations to the Baltfish High Level Group on fishing opportunities in the Baltic for 2017. The Fisheries Council will conclude negotiations on the TACs on 9-10 October in Luxembourg.

Commission Consultation on Fishing Opportunities for 2018
July 14, 2017
This letter with recommendations regarding the Communication from the Commission concerning a consultation on Fishing Opportunities for 2018, (COM(2017) 368 final) is aimed at the Fisheries Ministers to consider at the upcoming Council meeting. The European Commission sets out principles for the fixing of fishing opportunities for 2018. It shows a commitment to implement the reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), however, time is running out to fully implement the objective of fishing below Fmsy in order to bring stock biomass above Bmsy for all stocks by 2020.

FishSec EBFM Recommendations
June 27, 2017
FishSec has completed a set of recommendations for the implementation of ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) in the Baltic Sea region. The recommendations are based on the EBFM seminar in June 2016 that was organised by Stockholm University Baltic Sea Centre, The Fisheries Secretariat (FishSec) and the International Council for Exploration of the Sea (ICES) in Stockholm.

Summary of ICES advice on Baltic stocks for 2018
June 1, 2017
On 31 May 2017, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Advisory Committee published their advice regarding the exploitation of the Baltic Sea fish stocks for 2018. Here we provide a summary and comment on the assessments and advice.
A table with the summary of the ICES advice can be found here.