EU Baltic cod stock limits slammed as 'worryingly high'

Environmentalists have accused EU ministers of putting Baltic cod stocks at risk with new quotas agreed last week, but fishermen say the limits are too strict.

The Agriculture and Fisheries Council of the EU reached an agreement on the 2016 total allowable catches (TAC) for Baltic Sea fish stocks on Friday.

The council agreed to cut the TAC for western and eastern Baltic cod by about 20%, as well as extending a six-week fishing closure on western cod during the spawning period between mid-February and end-March 2016.

Environmental group Oceana said these fishing limits were “well above sustainable levels” and accused the council of putting Baltic cod in peril by ignoring scientific advice.

“EU ministers have blatantly ignored their obligations to recover fish stocks,” said Lasse Gustavsson, executive director of Oceana in Europe.

“The EU Common Fisheries Policy obliges fisheries ministers to manage fisheries sustainably by 2020 at the latest. At this pace the 2020 deadline to restore sustainability of all fish stocks will not be met. This is not only yet another broken promise, it is bordering on illegality.”

Non-profit group the Fisheries Secretariat agreed the quotas for Baltic cod were “worryingly high” and “undermined” the goals of the CFP.

However, Europeche said the 20% cut in cod quotas still came as a “blow” for fishermen in the Baltic, who were already working under strict management plans.

It also branded the fishing closure as “problematic” and warned the temporary ban on catching cod would be “extremely detrimental” to the industry.

The European Commission had proposed a 35% cut in quotas for western Baltic cod based on advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). 

EU Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Karmenu Vella said the council negotiations had been “tough” and admitted member states had shown themselves to be “less ambitious” on reaching sustainable fishing levels than the European Commission. 

However, he insisted the agreement on cod still represented a “substantial cut in catches” that, combined with the fishing closure, would “contribute to a more sustainable stock in the long run”.