German Baltic fishermen will have to adjust to significant restrictions in the coming year. The permitted catches for herring and cod in the western Baltic will be significantly reduced, as became known after the meeting of EU fisheries ministers at night on Tuesday in Luxembourg. Also for recreational anglers there will be stricter conditions. Environmentalists, however, do not go far enough.
In the herring in the western Baltic, which is important for Germany, the ministers agreed to reduce the permitted catch by 65 percent. The cod in the western Baltic Sea is expected to be minus 60 percent. In the eastern Baltic cod may be fished only in small quantities as bycatch. Dorsch recreational fishermen must also restrict themselves: in the future, they will only be allowed to pull five or seven instead of seven out of the water each day. In February and March it should be only two.
Commission wants to examine aid opportunities
The EU fisheries ministers set the so-called total allowable catches each year. The EU Commission makes proposals based on scientific recommendations that examine the state of individual stocks. A stock is a species of fish in a given area.
The total catches are then distributed among the EU countries as national quotas. If the quota allowed in a quota has been exhausted, the respective country may temporarily cease fishing there. The basic purpose of the negotiations is to strike a balance between the protection of stocks and the interests and needs of the fishing industry.
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It had been difficult but necessary decisions, said EU Fisheries Commissioner Karmenu Vella after the agreement. Fish stocks and ecosystems in the Baltic Sea are "in an alarming state". There are worries about the environment but also communities located on the Baltic Sea, which depend on these ecosystems for their livelihood. "There will be serious short-term economic consequences for some fishermen," says Vella. The Commission will therefore examine possibilities for assistance.
Klöckner warns of "socio-economic effects"
Researchers have identified environmental factors that make it difficult to recover fish stocks. Thus, the Thünen Institute had shown in his annual investigations in the spawning area of herring, that mainly a warming of the sea area and an over-fertilization of the inner coastal waters in which the herring spawned, provide less offspring.
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Environmentalists reacted disappointed to the stricter quotas. For the cod in the eastern Baltic, an absolute ban on fishing is needed to save the decimated stock, according to the marine conservation organization Oceana. A ban on fishing must also be imposed for herring in the western Baltic, in order to prevent serious consequences. The reductions in the Western cod, however, are welcome, said Oceana European Director Pascale Moehrle.
Germany had previously fought against allegedly excessive reductions in fishing quotas. Federal Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner (CDU) warned against the "socio-economic impact of such a drastic cut". According to an NDR report, Schleswig-Holstein is affected by the reduced quotas of 206 main commercial fishermen, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 237.
- # Agriculture Council: BMin @JuliaKloeckner negotiates # Baltic quotas.
Sustainability brings together ecology ➕ economy ➕ social issues. It is also about existence of fishing families. Quota cuts of 70% are too drastic. But we have to cut back on stock recovery. pic.twitter.com/KmdtQpLMep
The maximum quantity of two copies per day proposed by the EU Commission for recreational cod fishing had also been described by Klöckner as unacceptable. "This could amount to a closure of fishing tourism on the German Baltic Sea coast." The German Fisheries Association had previously stated that already after the introduction of an earlier limit of five cod per angler and two years ago, more than half of the fishing boats on the Baltic Sea would have given up.