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Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2018: LIFE views

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A Glimmer of Hope for Baltic Cod, overshadowed by discards and food scarcity in the East 

Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2018: LIFE views

 

Warsaw, 10 July 2017

Marcin Ruciński

 

As every year, the prospects for LIFE’s members, and the fate of the resources they depend on, hang on the discussions, negotiations, and decisions on setting catch levels and accompanying measures for Baltic fisheries in 2018. Our position, based on numerous discussions with our Members, is outlined below, a position that is also briefly reflected in the relevant BSAC Recommendation[1]. For the sake of sustaining both small scale fishing livelihoods in the Baltic and the resources they depend on, we very much hope to be heard and heeded by decision-makers.

  1. Western Baltic cod: building on hope and luck, use the opportunities carefully!

Precaution is of paramount importance for any fisheries management. Too much optimism on Western cod, notable in decisions taken until 2015, has led us to the brink of stock collapse last year. This year, we were lucky with a very strong year class of 2016, which allows us to look at the future of this stock, so immensely important to many small-scale fishing communities, with a glimmer of hope.

A glimmer of hope, however, must not be answered by recklessness. So, no tampering please with the management measures that have enabled the recovery we are now starting to observe. This goes particularly for the extended spawning protection, which LIFE advocated as top priority last year. The closed season enacted last year must not change. Any relaxation here, let alone its abolishment, would be premature and risky for the fragile stock recovery, based as it is on just one year class. It may well be that prolonging the spawning closure in question, enacted back in 2015, allowed for the successful 2016 spawning.

The newly recruited cod need additional protection from being prematurely caught and discarded in trawl fisheries. As the results of EFCA campaigns[2] show, this risk is terribly real with trawls currently in use and industry practices at sea. Therefore, LIFE lends its careful and conditional support for the repeated BSAC calls to promote the use of innovative mobile gears. The condition of our support is simple: there must be strong “checks and balances” by the authorities, at both national and EU level, ensuring that: a) new gears have been proven more selective than the currently used ones in a transparent scientific peer-review process, and b) intensive at-sea inspection campaigns are undertaken to weed out and deter from any practices nullifying selectivity.

On the TAC level, at LIFE we trust in the wisdom of decision-makers, as last year. We hope they will be mindful of the heavy TAC cut last year, swallowed with big difficulty by small-scale, low impact fleets. Many of us were forced to switch to fishing flatfishes for part of the season, with rather poor economic results. We note that ICES advice allows for a moderate TAC increase (around +9%), in full compliance with the multiannual plan. The real levels of discards in trawls observed by EFCA make case for the use of Article 17 of CFP Basic Regulation even stronger. We therefore very much hope that any increase will predominantly benefit those who behave responsibly and whose activities have the lowest possible impact on the resources.

  1. Eastern Baltic cod: curb illegal discarding and think of the food chain!

At first glance, ICES advice for the stock does not differ very substantially from that of last year. The difference in advised level of catches is about 3%. There are two particularly worrying signs though: the decline in stock size indicator and the level of discards, which ICES considers to be much higher than officially reported. This is confirmed by what our Members observe, and the situation seems to be even worse than last year in certain areas. It is therefore of paramount importance that the illegal cod discarding problem in the Eastern Baltic is urgently addressed – both by introducing innovative, more selective towed gears peer-reviewed by scientists and stepped-up at-sea inspections to weed out and deter any practices from nullifying selectivity.

It is equally important to analyze and fully respect the ICES advice, which points to the important role played by large-scale pelagic fisheries in current cod condition, characterized by food deprivation. ICES confirm the view already expressed by LIFE last year[3] that there is excessive effort on forage fish, which makes their long-standing call for a spatial management plan for large pelagic fisheries in subdivisions 25-26 stronger than ever.

Managers must no longer ignore this call. The arguments presented by large pelagic fleet representatives simply won’t wash: modern pelagic trawlers of 25 meters length and (much) more are perfectly able to steam north of Subdivisions 25-26 to reap the benefits of strong pelagic species’ concentrations. ICES confirm that it would also be beneficial for the pelagic stocks there if they did.

As to the TAC level, we hope the managers will take on board that 3 years of consecutive TAC reductions have not relieved the woes of Eastern cod. Please don’t make the small-scale, low impact fishers of the Baltic Sea pay the heavy price for a difficult stock situation that is not of their making.

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[1] http://www.bsac.dk/BSAC-Resources/BSAC-Statements-and-recommendations/BSAC-recommendations-for-the-fishery-2018

[2] See slides 8-9 of presentation by EFCA Executive Director, Pascal Savouret, available here http://www.bsac.dk/getattachment/Meetings/BSAC-meetings/BALTFISH-BSAC-EFCA-Workshop-on-implementation-of-t/FromEFCA-BSAC-EFCA-BALTFISH-presentation-9-March-2017.pdf.aspx?lang=en-GB

[3]See LIFE comments on 2017 Fishing Opportunities https://lifeplatform.eu/baltic-stocks-comments-highlights/

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Recommendations for Western Cod

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Crunch Time in Baltic: Opportunities and Threats for Cod and Small Scale Fishers.

Brussels, 29 September 2016

LIFE Platform

As 2017 Baltic TAC negotiations near conclusion, lobbyists are taking a plethora of public stances. Rather than muddying the waters further, LIFE would like to recall the main elements of its Action Plan for Western cod, elaborated in July.

Access LIFE’s recommendations for the management of Western Baltic Cod by clicking here

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Baltic stocks: comments and highlights

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sprats

 Warsaw, 25 July 2016

LIFE Platform

Following ICES advice for 2017, LIFE’s Members of the Baltic Region (including Poland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany) elaborated the comments and highlights below, to be presented to decision-makers, with concrete proposals for a correct management of Baltic stocks. 

 

LIFE comments on Baltic Sea fish stocks: TACs and accompanying measures

following the ICES advice for 2017

 

Eastern cod and relation to pelagic species

LIFE is strongly concerned about the continued lack of analytical assessment of this stock by ICES, in spite of numerous efforts to this end. The lack of larger cod individuals and reliance on small number of incoming year classes increase risks ahead of this key Baltic Sea stock.

Furthermore, ICES points to increasing discard rate, which is most probably higher than 15%. LIFE Members’ observations confirm the information available to ICES that “modification of selectivity properties” does take place at large scale in demersal trawl fishery.

The condition of cod individuals has improved a little, but it is still much worse than long-term average; this must not be used as an excuse for complacency. There is no single cause of this phenomenon. However, LIFE Members point to a root cause of continued cod food deprivation, especially for 3 to 4-year-old cod, which should mainly feed on sprat in normal conditions. In LIFE’s view, it is because forage fish is simply not available, due to excessive effort exerted on pelagic species, particularly sprat in Subdivisions 25 and 26. ICES advice is quite clear on this.

The situation described above calls for a moderate TAC decrease, in view of increased risks for the stock. It is, however, immensely more important for decision-makers to adopt without delay measures leading towards:

  • Much better food availability for 3 to 4-year-old and older cod individuals;
  • Significant and strong decrease of discards. They are a disgrace to the region hitherto seen as example for the rest of Europe to follow.

Small-scale fishers of the Baltic Sea can ill-afford a repetition of the situation of Western cod stock in the East.

Sprat

LIFE considers that, in a situation of cod food deprivation in Central Baltic and on the basis of just one strong year class, the TAC increase suggested by ICES should not be followed. We hope that decision-makers shall act moderately here to avoid steep sprat TAC decreases in the future. LIFE recommends a rollover of the TAC with a robust spatial management plan to move large-scale pelagic effort away from SDs 25 and 26 and leave the sprat as prey for hungry cod, as advised by ICES.

Central Basin Herring

LIFE feels it necessary to bring to the table a worrying anecdotal evidence provided by one of our Members: some fishers specialized in herring for bait, operating in southern Swedish waters, have pointed out to very bad situation of herring in their area, with i.e. the fish growing very thin. This has resulted in some bait-specialized boats going out of business this year.

Impact of seal predation

LIFE calls upon ICES to take full account of the extent of fish mortality caused by the huge increase in seal population over the last decade. This is particularly important for the assessment of cod and salmon stocks. Furthermore, environmental organizations, as well as the relevant EU and national authorities, need to re-think their seal conservation policies to ensure that the balance in Baltic Sea ecosystem is kept.

 

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LIFE’s Baltic Members launch an Action Plan

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Baltic_Sea_map

Warsaw, 25th July 2016

LIFE Platform

 

Following ICES advice for 2017, LIFE’s Members of the Baltic Region (including Poland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany) elaborated the following action plan, to be presented to decision-makers, with concrete proposals for a correct management of the Western Baltic Cod stock. Cod is one of the main sources of income for small-scale fishers and is vital to maintain the livelihoods of local coastal communities in the Region.

 

Action Plan for Western Baltic cod stock following the ICES advice for 2017

 

The situation

LIFE is extremely worried at the latest ICES advice outlining the fishing opportunities for Western Baltic cod stock for 2017. The advised TAC of 917 tons constitutes an annual reduction of ca. 93%. It is perhaps the toughest practical stress test yet for the reformed CFP.

LIFE is of the opinion that the productivity of Western Baltic cod stock has been over-estimated for many years on the face of relatively strong year classes of 1990s and early 2000s. This unfortunate error allowed the long-lasting overfishing of the stock. The latest re-calculation of recruitment figures by ICES (table 8.3.4.11. as compared to advice from previous years) confirms this view. Another important problem is the amount of cod discards in pelagic trawling (SD24) and in demersal trawling (SD22), which may be higher than officially reported. Furthermore, towed gears are often used in a way that decreases or nullifies selectivity.

Moreover, recreational fishing and environmental/ecosystem factors, in particular the cod mortality caused by increasing seal population, add to the pressure on the stock. The seal damage to catches causes extra hardship for small-scale fishing communities, as the seals eat fish caught in their passive gears.

For 2017, ICES draws particular attention to very weak recruitment. The latest incoming year class is estimated at roughly 6% of long-term average, even if the F is slightly falling and SSB seems to have stabilized at level below Blim.

We are strongly convinced that the current state of Western cod stock calls for a development of broad and inventive Action Plan, rather than just focusing on business-as-usual: the short-sighted fight over the TAC levels or their allocations to Member States for next year we’ve been observing for too long.

Therefore, LIFE refrains from taking a position on specific TAC level for now, pending the developments on the Action Plan called for and outlined below. It is clear that overall,
a serious reduction of fishing opportunities, significantly more substantial than that of last year (-20%), has to be decided upon.

General thrust of the Action Plan

LIFE calls – in strongest terms – for recognition that just as we take utmost care for our most vulnerable fish stocks, we are obliged to take the utmost care for the most vulnerable fishers.

In concrete terms, this means that harsh measures needed to safeguard the stock should predominantly be targeted at those fleets that contribute the most to the fishing pressure on Western Baltic stock and are able, at least technically, to re-locate their effort to other areas and stocks.

The Action Plan is put together in the spirit of Article 5 of the new Baltic Multiannual Plan, which calls that all appropriate remedial measures be taken to ensure rapid return of the stock concerned to MSY levels and above.

LIFE calls upon EU Institutions, BALTFISH and Member States concerned to ensure that the measures outlined below are implemented without delay and become applicable as of 2017.

Elements of the Action Plan

  1. Protect the spawning stock by prolonged total trawling closure aimed at preserving pre-spawning and spawning concentrations. The closure should apply throughout February and March in the Subdivisions 22 and 23, i.e. where spawning occurs. Preserving the (still remaining…) spawning stock must be everyone’s priority.
  2. In the spirit of Article 17 of Basic CFP Regulation and in view of the significant TAC reduction, adopt incentivized cod avoidance plans for those fleets that are technically able to shift away from cod to other fisheries. In function of adopting cod avoidance plans, allocate the “released” fishing opportunities to those fishers who have no alternative and fish predominantly outside cod spawning zone with passive gears.
  3. Facilitate technical adjustments in towed gears that avoid by-catching cod – for the period outside the closure time mentioned in point 1. This goes particularly for directed flatfish fisheries with trawls.
  4. Managers should prioritize minimizing of by-catch of undersize and small cod, by new gear designs (including increasing the mesh size) and increase in the Minimum Conservation Reference Size, as deemed appropriate.
  5. Step up the control activities to prevent cod discards on the basis of risk analysis.
  6. Raise awareness of recreational fishers as to the situation of the Western cod stock to voluntarily decrease their pressure on it – until the cod stock has recovered. Introduce regulations on recreational fishing, such as bag limits for rod fishing. The regulations should assume equal burden-sharing compared to commercial fisheries.
  7. Take locally tailored measures to reduce damage to catches and gears caused by seals, by a.: facilitating movement to seal-safe gear, compensating for lost catches and gears, reducing seal and cormorant populations where allowed by environmental laws. In the longer run, environmental organizations need to re-think their seal and cormorant conservation policies.
  8. Use EMFF funding to offset the effects of these measures on the affected fleets.

LIFE is ready and willing to discuss this action plan with all the interested entities and persons, in particular the decision-makers of all appropriate levels.

It is the call for action with a set of concrete and constructive proposals from those whose livelihoods are directly and definitively threatened by the Western cod stock crisis. We ask all concerned to please act decisively before it’s too late – for the stock and for us.

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Meet Marcin Ruciński, LIFE’s new Baltic and North Sea Coordinator!

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MK_twinningproject_Nov2015_rev

Meet Marcin Ruciński, LIFE’s new Baltic and North Sea Coordinator!

 

Brussels, 12 July 2016

Claudia Orlandini

LIFE Platform

 

The Low Impact Fishers of Europe have recently been granted funds by the European Commission to provide additional support to the low impact small-scale fleet working in the Baltic and North Sea. The first step of the two-years project has been recruiting a new member of staff to design and implement a specific strategy for the Region, coordinate the work between members, help local communities to set up new organisations and liaise with relevant institutions.

After a tough selection process, thanks to his extensive experience in fisheries management, high level language skills and most of all great enthusiasm, Marcin has been selected by the Board of Directors to become the new Coordinator! Learn more about him in our welcome interview!

Hello Marcin, and welcome to LIFE! How did you learn about the Platform and what motivated you to apply?

I have learned about the LIFE initiative back in 2012, in the midst of the CFP reform process. I was impressed by the synergy between promoting small-scale fisheries and conserving the environment, which LIFE so nicely encapsulates. As far as I know, no other fisheries or marine environment organisation in Europe does that. Also Jerry’s decades-long background as a professional small-scale fisherman makes the organization special. At a personal level, I needed a change from a civil servant’s life to something a bit more modern and very exciting!

You have more than 10 years of experience in the fisheries sector, with a special focus on Baltic and North Sea Countries. What are, according to you, the biggest challenges for the small-scale sector in the Region?

I think the challenges are best summarized by the word « competition », which has many facets here, such as:

  • Competition to access fishing quotas with those more efficient and financially stronger;
  • Competition for marine space with other users of the sea, such as all kinds of: energy generating installations, marine protected areas, army drill areas, sea tourism, marine transport, etc.
  • Competition in product markets with the fish imported from outside the EU, as well as aquaculture products and fish caught by bigger fleets
  • Last but definitely not least, competition with seagoing predators (seals, cormorants) in catching the fish.

In all these areas, I’ll do my best to be of help for small-scale low impact fishers of Baltic and North Sea!

You have worked both as Chair of  the Fisheries Working Party of EU Council and Chair of Baltfish and Helcom Fish. Based on your experience, why is it important to bring the voice of small-scale fishers at institutional level, and how can this have an impact on the everyday life of coastal communities?

LIFE rightly points out that the 83% of Europe fishers are small-scale. Small-scale means, among others, being occupied with (or-overwhelmed by…) your business and making a decent living (or-a living…) in a highly competitive environment.

There’s very little or no time left for small scale fishers to successfully voice their concerns or make strong policy proposals at national or European level. The decision-makers in Brussels or national capitals are usually assisted by those voicing the concerns of larger-scale fleets, who can afford being professionally represented in the right places.

To be sure: there’s nothing wrong with that – as long as decision-makers have the full picture, including the knowledge of what small-scale fishers think and want. That’s why I think that what LIFE does has so much relevance. And I am happy to contribute to this process personally. It will surely result in CFP rules being more tailored to small-scale fishers’ needs.

As the new Coordinator for the Baltic and North Sea, what will be your priorities and strategy to reinforce the network between the fishers of the Baltic and North Sea?

I basically see two main priorities: understand in-depth main concerns of small-scale fishers of Baltic and North Sea through intensive contacts, and then taking these concerns to the right fora and people with the decision-making system, at EU or national level.

I hope that, if the fishers’ concerns are taken into account by the decision-makers, the benefits of being part of LIFE will become self-evident. This would, hopefully help in expanding our regional network. Being just a few days in a new position, one has to assume some flexibility and patience as to how these priorities are implemented in detail.

Selling the product at a fair price is vital for small-scale producers. According to you what is the place of small-scale businesses within the bigger market? What is the role of consumers’ education in this respect?

Luckily, the markets for fish are quite diverse and have many different segments. Not all of us like Pangasius, right? I think that, from the small-scale fishers’ perspective, it is important to define the best market niche for them and do everything possible to establish strong presence within it. There is a number of clear advantages of the product offered by small-scale fishers: it’s super-fresh, it’s caught sustainably and low-impact, it’s local, it’s traditional. Just how to exploit these advantages in local conditions of say, Southern Sweden, Schleswig-Holstein, Northern Poland, The Netherlands, Bornholm, Mecklemburg-Vorpommern or Baltic States – we need to see. There are encouraging examples from some of these regions, often using most modern technologies to quickly reach the consumer willing to pay extra for top-quality fish.

I am sure LIFE has lots of work to do here. The key point of departure must be: fishing for value, as opposed to fishing for volume.

Part of your role is meeting with fishing communities, listening to their problems and advocating for their rights where decisions are made. Did you already plan which will be the first communities that you are going to meet?

My plans are focused on the agendas of the upcoming BSAC and BALTFISH meetings. We have a crisis situation with the Western Baltic cod stock, where ICES is advising a cut in fishing opportunities of 93%! This needs urgent attention and strong response from LIFE. Livelihoods of our Members are at stake here. We also need to keep a weather eye on the Eastern cod stock, where scientists can’t get out of uncertainty for too long – and we must avoid repeating the Western cod situation at all cost. My intention is to personally meet all the LIFE Members, in the time and the format that’s most appropriate for them!

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