Fishing Opportunities and Small-scale Coastal Fisheries (SSCF) in the Baltic 2027: Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea
LIFE responds to the EC Proposal to fish the fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea for 2027
Decades of overfishing have weakened stocks, which are now having to face adverse impacts from pollution and climate change. Despite the degradation of the Baltic Sea marine environment, there are signs that stocks can recover if allowed to do so.
Here are LIFE’s recommendations for Baltic Sea quotas for 2027, based on the need to support stock growth:
In order to support the small-scale coastal fishing sector that anchors coastal communities it is necessary for the TAC regulation to support fish stock growth. SSFC above all depends on the availability of fish of marketable size, and fish must be allowed to grow to meet prime market requirements for SSCF to be viable.
The Commission proposal for central Baltic herring does this, allowing for the third quota increase in four years while supporting an increase in the availability of larger herring and older year classes. This builds on the previous two years where the Council has set a prudent quota (0.5 Fmsy) that has delivered benefits to both the sector and the stocks.
However, adjustments to the Commission proposal are necessary. The bycatch quota for the cod stocks should be maintained at the same level as 2026 in order to minimise the risk of unintended control issues (i.e. lack of proper controls on trawling). Anecdotal evidence indicates that cod bycatch within the pelagic sector far exceeds the allowable quota but is unreported. Misreporting should be addressed as opposed to TAC reductions.
With regards to plaice, approximately 6% of the quota allocated in 2026 has been caught. The Commission’s proposed quota allocation for 2027 is therefore unrealistic, and is consequent to the scientific advice failing to reflect the current stock structure and the potential fishable biomass. The share of the used TAC has been very low, less than 15%, for many years and is declining. We therefore recommend that Article 7 of the TAC regulation is amended to allow for passive gear fishing in subdivisions 25 and 26 to be extended to a depth of 40 metres. This would allow for plaice to be exploited with more success as it escapes to deeper colder waters.
For the western spring spawning herring quota it is imperative that the Council reintroduces the directed fishing provision for the small-scale sector and rolls over the existing TAC to 2027.
With regards to Bothnian herring the Commission proposal fails to support stock growth and the level of fishing mortality would exceed the 0,5 Fmsy threshold. Therefore, we recommend a 20% reduction in the proposed TAC from 57,308 to 45,544 tonnes. Fishing in 2026 has seen a stalled recovery. The improvements that fishermen had observed last year have been eroded due to excessive levels of fishing mortality by the industrial reduction fishery for fishmeal. It is imperative to reduce fishing mortality and maintain F at levels which support stock growth and allow for the small-scale sector to have the conditions necessary for a thriving and prosperous sector.
For both central Baltic herring and sprat the stock development has been positive and is a direct consequence of the Council decisions to not pursue the maximum theoretical catch. This clearly demonstrates that stock recovery is possible despite the degradation of the Baltic Sea’s marine environment and stock growth is contingent on maintaining this prudent approach.
LIFE recommends capping quotas at 0,5 Fmsy for lower trophic level species so as to account for ecosystem dynamics and model uncertainties while allowing for stable quotas and avoidance of fishery closures. ICES ACOM state that “fishing at levels that are around 75% of FMSY or even lower will result in a minimal loss of long-term yields and produce a much larger SSB, which is de facto compatible with EBFM and in line with current legislation given the large, often unaccounted uncertainty in any assessment model.”
Recovery advice is a priority and we regret the lack of progress that has been made since the unanimous statement from Member States and the Commission at the 2026 Agrifish Council meeting. Maintaining momentum is necessary to ensure that our stocks are healthy and can support the livelihoods of small-scale fishing communities – in-line with the CFP objective to restore and maintain harvested fish populations above levels that can produce the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY).
Why is SSCF important
In the Baltic Sea, small-scale coastal fishing (SSCF) accounts for over 90% of the fleet and over 60% of employment (with 80% of the actual jobs) in fishing (based on Full Time Equivalent – FTE). Despite most of these jobs being of a part time nature, SSCF provides an important additional source of income for coastal communities with few alternatives. The demise of the sector and the difficult economic conditions it is experiencing threaten the viability of the coastal communities that depend on SSCF.
Over the past decade, SSCF has seen a significant erosion of its access to fishing opportunities, notably due to the demise of the cod stocks (both eastern and western) which were closed to targeted fishing in 2019. Going forward, the outlook continues to be bleak, with the continued closure of eastern and western stocks of cod to targeted fishing, with fishing opportunities allocated only for “unavoidable bycatches”. SSCF will also be hit by the closures of Western Baltic herring and “main basin salmon” in ICES subdivisions 22 to 31.
Meanwhile, industrial reduction fisheries for fishmeal continue to catch significant but unrecorded quantities of commercially important species like cod, herring and salmon as “unavoidable bycatch”, thereby undermining the recovery of these stocks.
