Small Fish – Big Impact
Report and executive summaries
Download the report Small fish with a big impact
Download the executive summary: English, Danish, German, Latvian, Polish, Swedish
Event information
October 2025 – Brussels launch event for the report
Date Thursday 16th October 2025, 12:30 to 14:00
Location: European Parliament, Room 4F384
Hosted by MEP Isabella Lövin
This event, co-organised by FishSec, Blue Marine Foundation and Irish Wildlife Trust, aims to shed light on both the importance of these small fish for the wider marine ecosystem, and also highlight why these fish must be managed sustainably and within the principles of the ecosystem-based approach to management. With examples of management in the Baltic Sea and the lack of management in the seas around Ireland, the event will explore weaknesses in the current management regimes as well as key recommendations for ensuring more sustainable exploitation. Finally, the event will also explore the infamous UK-EU dispute over the closure of the sandeel fishery in British waters.
Read more about the event
Watch a recording of the presentations here
Links to presentation slides: FishSec Blue Marine Foundation Irish Wildlife Trust
About the project
Our project Small fish – Big impact is focused on the importance of forage fish in the Baltic Sea and the need to manage these fish through an ecosystem based approach. Thanks to the funding from the Swedish Postcode Lottery Foundation we have been able to conduct an extensive review of the current scientific literature on forage fish in the Baltic Sea and developed recommendations for stakeholders around the Baltic based on the review.
Forage fish are small pelagic species, in the Baltic Sea examples of forage fish are European sprat (Sprattus sprattus) and Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus). These fish are preyed on by larger predators and play a key role in the Baltic Sea ecosystem as a food source for larger fish including cod and salmon, as well as for marine mammals and seabirds. They are also culturally and economically important – sprat and herring have traditionally been among the most lucrative fisheries on the Baltic Sea. Today, three of the four Baltic Sea herring stocks (central Baltic Sea excluding the Gulf of Riga, Bothnian Bay Herring and Western Baltic herring) are now in poor shape (read more in our Joint NGO TAC paper). Additionally, both of the Baltic cod stocks, which rely on sprat and herring as prey species, are on the verge of collapse. It is clear that the Baltic Sea ecosystem is in severe distress.
Our project Small fish – Big impact started in September 2023 and started with an extensive review of the current scientific literature regarding forage fish and their role in the Baltic Sea which has been collated in a report together with our policy recommendations. This report forms the basis of a coordinated advocacy campaign executed by FishSec and spread by partner NGOs, other stakeholders and an established network in the Baltic region. The project follows our Return of the Cod-project, where we reviewed the situation for cod in the Baltic Sea and where one of the key recommendations was to ensure that the Baltic Sea food web is in good health to allow all species to thrive.
In the long-term, the vision for Small fish – Big impact is the restoration of ecosystem dynamics in the Baltic allowing fish and other wildlife populations to rebuild as well as allowing traditional fisheries to flourish.
The report
Our new report emphasises the key role that small pelagic fish – forage fish – play in the Baltic Sea, showing that changes in their stock status have not been sudden but rather the result of ongoing longer processes, driven by high fishing pressure in combination with other factors such as increasing water temperatures, lower salinity and changes in food availability. This decline is affecting both the Baltic ecosystem and the fishing sector in the region.
The report summarises current knowledge on forage fish in the Baltic Sea. Based on an extensive review of scientific literature and reports, it provides an overview of population health and the significance of sprat and herring stocks. The report includes:
- An examination of stock status and the vital role of forage fish in the Baltic sea ecosystem.
- An overview of pressures affecting their populations.
- A brief review of the EU fisheries management and implementation of key existing EU fisheries rules.
- Suggested policy measures for improved forage fish management.
In addition, we have produced an executive summary directed at decision-makers and stakeholders in all Baltic Sea countries.
Presentation recordings
Watch our introductory project webinar on FishSec’s Youtube channel (in English), 15 March 2024
Recording of in person event on forage fish in Brussels, 16 October 2025 on FishSec’s Youtube channel (in English), 15 March 2024
Watch a recording of the German national launch event for the Small fish with a big impact report hosted and presented by project partners DUH, 30 September 2025 here
As part of the project Small fish big impact, our partner organisation Deutsche Umwelthilfe held a Digital fisheries dialogue and launch event for the report Small fish with a big impact in September 2025. Moderated by Dr. Katja Hockun, Senior Expert Meeresschutz und Fischerei, Deutsche Umwelthilfe
Agenda
- Können Dorsch und Hering noch gerettet werden? – Dr. Rainer Froese (GEOMAR)
- Neuer Bericht “Small fish with a big impact”: Sorge um Sprotte und Hering in der Ostsee – Isabel Seeger (Deutsche Umwelthilfe)
- Wissenschaftliche Empfehlungen des ICES: Lücken und Lösungsvorschläge – Prof. Dr. Christian Möllmann (Universität Hamburg)
Last updated: October 24, 2025