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NEWS ALERT // 2023 Fishing opportunities proposal for the Baltic sea

Dear members of EAPO,

DG MARE has published its 2023 TACs proposal for the Baltic sea and a press release entitled “fishing opportunities for 2023 in the Baltic Sea in an effort to recover species”.

The Commission proposes to increase fishing opportunities for central herring and plaice, while maintaining the current levels for salmon and the levels of by-catch of western and eastern cod, as well as western herring. The Commission proposes to decrease fishing opportunities for herring in the Gulf of Bothnia, Riga herring and Sprat, in order to improve the sustainability of those stocks and to allow them to recover.

The press release underlines that “over the past decade, EU fishermen and women, industry and public authorities have made major efforts to rebuild fish stocks in the Baltic Sea. Where complete scientific advice was available, fishing opportunities had already been set in line with the principle of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) for seven out of eight stocks, covering 95% of fish landings by volume. However, commercial stocks of western and eastern cod, western herring, and the many salmon stocks in both the southern Baltic Sea and the rivers of the southern Baltic EU Member States are under severe environmental pressure from habitat loss, due to the degradation of their living environment”.

Table: Overview of TAC changes 2022-2023 (figures in tones except for salmon, which is in number of pieces)

Link to the press release:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_22_5064

Link to the proposal (including the annex):

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2022:415:FIN

Best regards,

Arkivet.