UK: Agreement reached on 2025 fishing opportunities for the Baltic Sea

The Council of the European Union has reached a political agreement on the fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea for 2025. The total allowable catch proposals for several key stocks have been adopted, including significant decreases in sprat and plaice, and limited fishing for eastern and western cod, western Baltic herring, and salmon. The agreement also allows for increased catches of Certain other species. However, the Commission has expressed concerns that some elements of the agreement may not contribute to the recovery of certain stocks and may not be in line with the applicable legal framework.

Agreement reached on 2025 fishing opportunities for the Baltic Sea. The Council of the European Union has reached a political agreement on the fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea for 2025, following the Commission proposal made in August this year. The Council has adopted the total allowable catch (TAC) proposals for several key stocks, including sprat (-31%) and plaice (rollover). For eastern cod and western cod, the Council has decided to set by-catch TACs only, so fishing will remain limited to accidental catches while targeting other species. Western Baltic herring will, in principle, also have a bycatch-only TAC, but the Council maintained an exception for small-scale coastal fishers. Catches of salmon in the main basin are also limited to by-catches, except during the summer in the coastal areas of the Aland Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia. The agreement allows considerable increases in catches of Bothnian herring (+21%), Riga herring (+10%), and central Baltic herring ...