Joint NGO recommendations on Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2025

The document argues that current fisheries management in the Baltic Sea has failed to meet EU legal requirements, such as achieving Good Environmental Status by 2020, and calls for a more precautionary, ecosystem-based approach to Total Allowable Catches (TACs) for 2025. It recommends setting catch limits well below ICES headline advice to allow for rapid stock recovery, particularly for collapsed cod populations and declining herring and sprat stocks. The NGOs advocate for the implementation of robust rebuilding plans, the use of Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) to combat widespread misreporting and non-compliance with the Landing Obligation, and the prioritization of low-impact coastal fisheries in quota allocations.

• The Baltic Sea ecosystem is in a state of extreme distress, with cod populations collapsed, salmon in decline, and sprat experiencing very low recruitment for four consecutive years.
• The NGOs recommend that 2025 Total Allowable Catches (TACs) be set well below the ICES headline advice to prioritize the rapid recovery of depleted stocks and account for anthropogenic pressures like climate change and pollution.
• Current fisheries management is criticized for focusing on the lowest biological reference point (Blim) rather than the legally required biomass level capable of producing Maximum Sustainable Yield (BMSY).
• There is evidence of widespread misreporting and non-compliance with the Landing Obligation, particularly in Central Baltic herring and Baltic sprat fisheries, where sprat is sometimes landed as non-quota species like flounder and stickleback.
• The document proposes that quota allocations should shift from historic criteria to environmental and social criteria to prioritize small-scale, low-impact fisheries over industrial operations.
• Specific 2025 recommendations include a zero TAC for Eastern and Western Baltic cod and Western Baltic herring, and setting the Baltic plaice TAC at or below 7,106 tonnes to minimize cod bycatch.

APA

ClientEarth (n.d.). Joint NGO recommendations on Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2025. https://www.clientearth.org/media/gb4nebkq/joint-ngo-recommendations-on-baltic-fishing-opportunities-for-2025-final.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Joint NGO recommendations on Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2025. n.d. https://www.clientearth.org/media/gb4nebkq/joint-ngo-recommendations-on-baltic-fishing-opportunities-for-2025-final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=Joint NGO recommendations on Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2025 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/gb4nebkq/joint-ngo-recommendations-on-baltic-fishing-opportunities-for-2025-final.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearthndjoint, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Joint NGO recommendations on Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2025}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/gb4nebkq/joint-ngo-recommendations-on-baltic-fishing-opportunities-for-2025-final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }