A multitude of human activities have
put the Baltic Sea ecosystems under severe pressure and turned this brackish,
semi-enclosed sea into one of the most
polluted in the world. Destructive fishing practices like dredging and bottom
trawling pose heavy threats to these
sensitive ecosystems. Oceanas report
on fisheries outlines the biggest problems related to fisheries in the Baltic
Sea and shows that the problem of Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU)
fishing remains a problem. The report
also provides an overview of issues on
the political agenda in European Union
and discusses the need for improved
fisheries management and the implementation of agreed commitments, like
achieving Maximum Sustainable Yields
(MSY) for all fish stocks by 2015 as a
first step towards a sustainable fisheries
management, and legal obligations, like
achieving Good Environmental Status
of all marine environments, including
Baltic Sea by 2020.
Over 50 species of fish are commercially caught in the Baltic Sea and the
Kattegat, for which only 10 of have
been given scientific advice, and only
five are managed with Total Allowable
Catch (TAC) in the Baltic Sea. While
the status of the eastern Baltic cod stock
has improved over the last years, other
stocks have not been as successful: most
of the Baltic fish stocks are overfished,
and for five of these (sea trout, flounder, turbot, brill and dab) scientific advice to limit fisheries has been ignored.
Additionally, in the case of salmon in
particular, the TAC was set twice as
high as the scientific advice recommended. Despite the fact that salmon,
sea trout and eel are all threatened and
declining, they remain continuously
commercially fished.
IUU fishing for cod in the Eastern Baltic
Sea has declined in the past years after
increased monitoring, control and surveillance efforts, but the problem is not
solved overall and the percentage of unreported catches is still very high in certain fisheries. The worst examples right
now include Baltic salmon and sea trout
and cod in the Kattegat.
During the 2011 at-sea expedition and
harbour research, Oceana documented a number of unsustainable fishing
practices. The findings included several large fishing vessels still officially
registered as driftnetters, even though
the driftnet ban in the Baltic Sea has
been in force since 2008. Additionally
several semi-driftnetters were documented that use driftnets which are
anchored on one side making it legal,
as this type of driftnet was excluded
from the driftnet ban but nevertheless
has the same by-catch problem as conventional driftnets. Other findings included the unloading of cod in April in
the Western Baltic Sea and in July and
August in the Eastern Baltic Sea, despite
the fact that fisheries in those months
and areas are closed to preserve the
cod stocks. Fish was also spotted being sold directly to consumers, inside
and outside closed seasons, before or
without being inspected to verify catch
amounts. Furthermore, Oceana found
it unacceptable that almost all Baltic
sprat and an enormous amount of Baltic
herring is caught for fishmeal and animal food, destined for highly controversial mink farms. These types of fisheries are unsustainable as they are carried
out by large scale fishing vessels using
very small mesh sizes which often take
non-target and undersized fish.
Recreational catches are high in the
Baltic Sea and have often been underestimated in earlier years. Yet in certain areas, like the Sound and in the
Kattegat, recreational catches are estimated to amount to up to 50% or more
of commercial catches. In German Baltic coast, there are over 80 active cutters (Fischkutter), a lot of which are
longer than 24 metres, that offer angling
on a daily basis during most of the year
for up to 50 anglers a day - a practice
called trolling in commercial fisheries. These fisheries are almost entirely
unregulated and catches are not included in quota amounts.
For the Baltic Seas depleted fish stocks
to recover, Oceana calls for the implementation of an ecosystem based fisheries management, taking into account the
entire sensitive ecosystem, and the application of the precautionary approach.
Besides better management, which
must also include the management of
all fish species caught, more stringent
monitoring, control and surveillance in
all Baltic Sea countries is needed, and
catch reporting and fisheries management must include recreational fisheries. The selectivity of fishing gear needs
to be improved and destructive fishing
like bottom trawls has to be changed to
prevent detrimental effects on the sea
bottom as well as by-catch and discards.
Finally, marine protected areas should
provide sanctuaries for fish, while also
shielding ecosystems from the effects
of destructive fishing practices. Oceana
finds it unacceptable that damaging
activities, like trawling and dredging,
are still allowed inside many marine
protected areas in the Baltic Sea.
Further Reading
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