Joint NGO recommendations on the setting of Baltic fishing opportunities for 2025

These joint NGO recommendations to EU fisheries ministers were co-signed by 14 NGOs (BalticWaters, Baltic Salmon Fund (Östersjölaxälvar i samverkan), Blue Marine Foundation, BUND, Coalition Clean Baltic, ClientEarth, Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), Estonian Fund for Nature (ELF), Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, FishSec, Lithuanian Fund for Nature (LFN), Seas At Risk, Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, WWF Baltic Sea Programme. In this document, we jointly call on EU fisheries ministers to set Baltic fishing opportunities for 2025 in line with the requirements and objectives of the CFP, in order to restore and maintain fish populations above biomass levels capable of producing the maximum sustainable yield (MSY). We provide clear recommendations regarding:

• the setting of precautionary and ecosystem-based Total Allowable Catches (TACs) for 2025,
• the conservation and restoration particularly of vulnerable depleted stocks such as eastern and western Baltic cod and Western Baltic herring,
• the correct implementation of the landing obligation,
• the need to prioritise low impact fishing through allocation of fishing opportunities under Article 17 of the CFP basic regulation, and
• improvements of the transparency of the TAC-setting process.

The document contains detailed recommendations and background information on all Baltic stocks subject to TACs.

Related links:

Find other files produced or co-signed by ClientEarth related to the annual negotiations on fishing opportunities from 2015 onwards here.