Nils: CCB fishery policy officer Feel free to contact me on

Baltic ecosystem and Baltic fisheries The Baltic Sea: Semi-closed water body = strong influence of environmental factors “Low” species richness Strong trophic interactions Pollution/Eutrophication High fishing pressure Increasing competition for space andresources (shipping, wind farms) 90% EU Member States (coastal) The players: EU Commission, EU Parliament, BALTFISH (m.s.)Regional Advisory Council (BSAC), fishermen, NGOs

Main species and stocks in Commercial fishery Marine species Eastern Cod Western Cod Central Herring Western Herring GoR Herring Bothnian Sea Herring Bothnian Bay Herring Sprat Main Basin Salmon GoF Salmon Sea trout Plaice Flounder Turbot Coastal/river species (also migratory) Salmon-Sea trout Eel White fish Perch Pike Pike Perch Baltic Vimba Several other cyprinids like roach, bream Underlined have a TAC = a set catch amount is decided by EU Member States each year, the rest up to each MS

The fishing Length Class 2012 Vessels < 12 meters (most passive) 4525 Vessels >12 meters (25-40m) 767 Total trend is pointing downward Catch examples for cod 85% trawl 15% passive gears Economics in Baltic Sea? Large or very large vessels targeting pelagics (herring/sprat): 92% total weight and 79% of value Small scale vessels cod, flounder, plaice etc: 8% weight and 21 % of value = if you want to make money: fish for small fish going to fish meal factories! Number of employees in total difficult to calculate because of part time work. In Full Time Equivalents: ca 7300 jobs in total (observe: some of which are not fishing in Baltic only)

And the other stocks? Baltic salmon: today only dk and pl fish at sea. Fi, se. fish salmon close to coast and near rivers (de,ee,lv,lt more a bycatch) Sea trout: often caught with salmon in same gear, bycatch. Whitefish: also targeted with nets and traps (salmon traps) but also bycatch Eel: fishing has declined but is ongoing (?). More or less exclusively in traps

What´s the problem with all this? YEARICES ADVICEAdvice TAC (1000 tonnes)Politically set TACActual catches 2005No fishing ** 2006 Develop Management plan < ** 2007No fishing ** 2008No fishing042.3***42** 2009 Limit (total) landings to t ≤ ***48** 2010 Follow management plan *** See scenarios-64.5*** Follow management plan *** Follow management plan ***31 ?? 2014 Follow management plan ***38.5 ?? % reduction in catches *** 2016Precautionary approach ≤ Problem 1: we overfish! science vs fishermen (example is cod)

Problem 2: how we fish The way fishing is conducted: trawls dominate Small scale fishery with less impacting gears struggle because there is no fish on coasts! More and more fish is taken for fish meal and not human consumption = the small scale fishery is disappearing, creates social impacts and rural towns close down. but also.. What´s the problem with all this?

Bycatch and poor selectivity the norm, trawls cant catch what they actually are after: catch everything Gear destroy and disturb bottoms Fish stocks become stressed enough that their genetic selection change: smaller, spawn earlier We change the basic structure of the ecosystem when no more predator fish exist and we are left with herring and sprat Bycatch of birds and mammals have drastic effect on abundance (esp. harbour porpoises and observe in nets = otherwise good gears) = The way we fish impact far beyond the fish stocks alone Problem 3: side effects in nature What´s the problem with all this?

Fishing is one part of many effecting ecosystems and the environmental goals must be reached – fishery management must lead to Good Environmental Status/healthy stocks (MSFD/HELCOM) Fish less and in a low impact fishery: fishermen with best behavior, good selectivity and less environmental impact should be allowed to fish Create more/better protected areas for fish and other wildlife CCB main views

Active participation in advisory body (BSAC) Address Member States in Baltfish and HELCOM Continuous contacts with Commission and European Parliament MEPs Prepare statements and inputs based on existing rules and science, but also influence new rules Coordination with other NGOs, joint letter, meeting preparations (CCB members, FISH Sec, WWF, OCEANA, Birdlife) Policy oriented: implementation and development of policy/rules CCBs work today

Thanks for listening