Before we trip into June, here is long-overdue news from the BSRAC. We¡¯ve been quiet, but busily quiet¡..
Starting with the most topical for all Baltic fisheries interests: the scientific advice for the Baltic for 2012
ICES released its advice on Friday 27th May for all relevant stocks in the Baltic ¨C and this year also including the western Baltic (for BSRAC the area 22-24).
You can find the advice for 16 Baltic stocks is on the ICES website here:
And it¡¯s all on the front page of the BSRAC website under the heading BSRAC News, together with news on the Commission¡¯s consultation on fishing opportunities for 2012:
Who¡¯s reacting to the advice? So far there are the following press releases:
The Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries
Already had comments last Friday morning, in advance of the release of the ICES advice. Its headline was: ¡°Baltic cod at historic levels¡±
The Danish minister Henrik Høegh highlighted the improvement in the cod stocks in both the eastern and western Baltic and said that: ¡°It¡¯s good news that fishermen and the consumer can look forward to there being more sustainable Baltic cod next year. We¡¯re meeting the targets for cod in the management plan, and this means higher cod quotas. Our success with the cod management plan in the Baltic confirms the value of having a long-term perspective in fisheries management.¡±
The recommendations to reduce fishing opportunities for herring, sprat and salmon are also referred to in the press release. And here the minister comments that: ¡°I will work in a targeted way to make sure that the stocks such as herring, sprat and salmon also become the object of long-term management plans.¡±
You can read the press release (sorry, Danish only) here:
The Danish Fishermen¡¯s Organisation in its press release chooses to highlight two stocks in its headline: ¡°An improvement for cod and herring in the Baltic¡±
The chairman of the Danish Fishermen¡¯s Union, Svend-Erik Andersen, says: ¡°It¡¯s good to see that there¡¯s a good basis for the cod stocks in the Baltic, both with respect to the food supply and recruitment.¡± He was happy to read the ICES advice to increase TACs for eastern and western cod by 15% and 13% respectively. He then points out that a stock which is in a good state does not need effort regulation by means of days at sea. ¡°They should be got rid of,¡± he adds. An improvement in the herring fishery in the western Baltic is also mentioned. Tucked away under the overall figures from ICES for herring is the possibility of an increase in the herring fishery in the western Baltic. But the advice also recommends a reduction in the herring fishery in other parts of the Baltic. ¡°There¡¯s a need for an increase in the herring fisheries after the cutbacks that there have been in recent years,¡± says Svend-Erik Andersen.
He expresses surprise at the ICES proposal for a 25% reduction in the sprat fishery in 2012 because of a change in natural mortality for sprat. And he is far from happy with the advice on salmon which sets the scene for a reduction in salmon quotas. (ICES advises that the TAC for salmon in 2012 should be 54,000 pieces). Svend-Erik Andersen says that ¡°ICES points out directly that there can be a great deal of salmon mis-reported as trout. Poland must take responsibility for that ¨C it can¡¯t be up to the other Baltic countries to do that.¡± See the press release (in Danish only):
Points out on its website that it¡¯s ¡°Positive for cod in the Baltic¡±
It starts with the ICES advice to increase cod catches in the Baltic for the eastern stock by 15%, but notes that the situation is more worrying for the salmon with a proposal for a big reduction in commercial catches.
On cod it says that already last year the research had noted that the cod stock east of Bornholm was being fished at a long-term sustainable level, and the new information shows that the situation continues to improve. It points out that the ICES advice is in line with the EU¡¯s management plan for cod. The article quotes Max Cardinale from the Swedish Board of Fisheries (and Swedish representative on the ICES Advisory Committee). According to him, the stock is now again at a long-term sustainable level and Baltic cod is following a very positive trend. One thing which has contributed to this development is that the decision-takers have followed the ICES advice as well as their own management plan. Even in the western Baltic cod there is a positive development with ICES reporting that fishing mortality is on the way down.
A worsening situation for salmon
The reporting states that most of the Baltic salmon stock fails to reach the management targets set today, and in the last two years fishing pressure has been above recommended levels. Johan Dannewitz at the Swedish Board of Fisheries reports that the natural survival of salmon in the Baltic has fallen considerably since the mid-1990s. But there is uncertainty about the reasons for this.
Problems for sprat and a fragmented picture for herring
The reporting goes on to mention the ICES advice to reduce theTAC for sprat by 25% to 242,000 tonnes, as well as reductions for central Baltic herring and herring in the western Baltic. According to the report better signals are coming from the herring stock in the Bothnian Bay. Results show that the stock is at its highest ever observed. So there is scope for an increase in the TAC to 104,000 tonnes.
Read the report in full (Swedish only) on the front page of the Swedish Fishermen¡¯s Federation website:
The BSRAC holds its Joint Working Group on 8th and 9th June 2011 to discuss the formulate draft recommendations on the ICES advice, as well as the Commission¡¯s consultation paper on fishing opportunities for 2012.
BSRAC news and meetings
The PAST
What has the BSRAC been up to these past few weeks? ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡.
Two Riga meetings: Executive Committee and General Assembly 5th and 6th May 2011: to mark five years of the BSRAC
The BSRAC holds its General Assembly in each of the eight Baltic EU member countries in turn, partly so as to strengthen links to those countries and their administrations. This year¡¯s General Assembly (preceded by an Executive Committee) took place on 6th May in the Latvian Ministry of Agriculture in Riga.
At the Executive Committee meeting on 5th May the annual report and accounts for the year just gone were approved, as were the draft budget and work programme for the new year. The vice-chair Ewa Milewska from WWF was re-elected, and at the General Assembly, it was approved to extend this position from one year to three years, rather than have to have an election every year.
Safety at sea was on the agenda
Flemming Nygaard Christensen, Director of the Danish Fishermen's Occupational Health Services, was invited by the Executive Committee to give an account of the way Denmark deals with safety at sea and risk assessment on board fishing vessels. This is a sector which is dealt with differently from country to country around the Baltic. The EU has adopted a strategy for the Baltic with the aim of creating growth in the Baltic region. One of the areas of activity is maritime safety, which is why Flemming Christensen took part to talk about the good experiences gained in Denmark.
And the BRAC working groups and discards
There were also reports from two recently held working groups for Demersal and Pelagic fisheries. The Commission¡¯s discard policy is one subject which is of concern to many of the BSRAC members. Fully aware that a ban on discards is on the way, the Executive Committee members discussed ways in which they most constructively could contribute to the introduction of a ban. Members have pointed out that discards in the Baltic are relatively small compared to other areas, but at the same time it was decided to work on producing input into the process in the form of a roadmap for introducing a discard ban, focusing among other things on further work to improve selectivity in the cod fishery.
At the General Assembly on 6th May the Latvian minister paid tribute to the contribution made by the BSRAC to a sustainable fishery and its ability to bring together and reflect the different interests and viewpoints in the organisation. He added that Latvia was preoccupied with three important subjects under the CFP: long-term management plans, discards and the new financial instrument, which will replace the fisheries fund after 2012.
EU reform
DG Mare¡¯s Director for the Baltic, Carla Montesi, informed the General Assembly about the work going with CFP reform, discards, the two long-term management plans for the salmon and pelagic stocks, as well as cooperation with Russia. She mentioned that with CFP reform, the RACs could be expected to play a bigger role in shaping the fisheries policy. A more regionalised fisheries policy was on the way and she mentioned Baltfish, which is a form of fisheries cooperation amongst the eight Baltic EU member countries on fisheries. It was mentioned as a trial for introducing more regionalisation in fisheries management and decision-making, but without actually introducing a regional council of ministers for the Baltic. She also mentioned that in future, the BSRAC was invited to attend the meetings between the Commission and Russia, which were now taking place in the framework of the EU-Russia agreement on fisheries. Last but not least, the EU¡¯s maritime policy was mentioned, and the BSRAC was encouraged to take part in the consultation on Maritime Spatial Planning and come with input on how planning and coordination of the use of the maritime space can best be done.
Whilst waiting for the plans
The BSRAC members expressed their frustration over the fact that the proposals for long-term management plans for salmon and the pelagic stocks had still not been put forward. Carla Montesi regretted the long-drawn out discussions between the Commission and the European Parliament on how to deal with these plans in practice. But the input from the BSRAC had been taken into account, she said. The proposal for salmon should be presented within a few weeks, and the pelagic plan before the summer holidays.
Discards would also be the subject of work in the Commission, and here the aim was to work towards a so-called ¡°organised discard ban.¡± In connection with the aim was to identify technical solutions for discard. She pointed out that the consequences of a discard ban in the Baltic would be limited.
In connection with cod, the BSRAC pointed out two concerns: the first was the days at sea scheme in the Baltic and the lack of flexibility in the effort regulation. The second was the Commission¡¯s tender for a selectivity project in the cod fishery ¨C a decision on this was dragging on. Carla Montesi explained that member states had been asked to provide extra data on the effort scheme. She would look into the tender issue.
The work done by the BSRAC on cod
The BSRAC chairman Reine Johansson pointed out the work that the BSRAC had been doing on cod: selectivity, discards, evaluation of the cod long-term management plan, effort regulation etc. This had been going on BSRAC¡¯s demersal working groups, as well as at Commission and ICES meetings. He regretted that no progress had been made with the BSRAC¡¯s own project on selectivity. He also expressed his reservations about Baltfish: if Baltfish was going to play a significant role, the BSRAC ought to have a permanent seat so as to be able to inform about its work and recommendations.
The fact that there had not been so much activity in connection with the pelagic working group was no due to lack of commitment, rather to the fact that the RAC was still waiting for the long-term management plan on pelagic stocks.
The Honorary chair, Steve Karnicki, who was formerly director of the Sea Fisheries Institute in Gdansk and now government adviser on fisheries policy and CFP reform, was happy to point out that since its start, the BSRAC had developed and matured and had become a strong organisation with viewpoints. He was sure that the BSRAC had a future.
The BSRAC was represented at the Commission stakeholder meeting on discards 3rd May 2011
In the introduction to this meeting it was pointed out that the initiatives already taken by the EU to reduce discards have not been enough. There is a need for a legal framework: to ensure more fish in the future: this is for the benefit of fishermen as well as the consumer. The fishing sector pointed out that it was important to take into account the differing conditions in the EU for the different fisheries carried out, as well as a need for a clear definition of discards - including the species and the scale of the problem.
Starting the meeting, Commissioner Damanaki said she had received over ½ million signatures from British consumers calling for an end to discards, so it was clearly time to take action and to impose a ban of discards. She pointed out need for cooperation with the industry as well as for anew legal framework which did not encourage discards. The Commission was aware of 47 projects around the EU working on selective fisheries to reduce discards.But there was a need for a common framework in all EU waters. The timescale for getting rid of discards would follow a top-down decision in Brussels, after which the industry would be able to take measures to deal with it in practice. But it was important to find answers to questions such as:
- whether the industry could keep to the rules,
- what to do with the fish below minimum size,
- what to do with bycatches,
- regionalisation,
- marketing
There were two presentations of projects currently being run in Denmark and Spain:
Denmark: MSY exploitation and all fish landed achieved by transferable catch quotas and full documentation
Spain: Processing of formerly discarded species ¨C recovery, management, reusing of discards in Atlantic and Mediterranean
There were loads of representatives present, from both sides of the spectrum. Most of the meeting was spent on listening to differing points of view on the subject of a discards ban, such as:
- discards typically occur in mixed fisheries
- not all species thrown overboard die
- there was a need for a socio-economic analysis of the consequences for the fishery
- a ban should be introduced on a region-by-region basis and species specific basis
- it was unrealistic to think that all fish caught can be used
- it will be difficult keep the discarded fish on-board if all has to be landed.
- there was a need for market based solutions
- avoid decisions made too quickly.
- take into account the conditions in each country
- such a scheme cannot work on a voluntary basis
- the public wants to see discards stopped.
- fish is a public resource, so licenses should only be given go to those who fish selectively
- don¡¯t give incentives to new markets for fish which we don¡¯t want to be caught
- it is hard to imagine rules for all kinds of fishery throughout Europe because traditions vary
- it should not be made possible to sell small fish
Director General Lowri Evans said at the end that there is a political will to lay down a legal framework to getting rid of discards. Now they would have to look at what incentives could be given to the fishermen to
change their way of doing things ¨C this could happen through the RACs. There wouldn¡¯t be any more discussions before the Commission has tabled its proposal.
Denmark: Catch quota management workshop 17th and 18th May 2011, Copenhagen:
CQM trials are going on in some EU countries. The workshop looked at how CQM be used to improve management, and to obtain common standards for processing and reporting more reliable data. The over-arching aim is to develop a cost-efficient, intelligent and simplified control and regulation. It was a really well-attended event at the Danish Ministry Fisheries Directorate (where the control and inspection is masterminded). It was heavy with Scottish and English accents, reflecting the amount of energy that has been put into CQM in that part of the world in the whitefish fishery. There were presentations from the Scottish and Danish fisheries administrations, from the Danish research institute DTU Aqua, Barrie Deas of the National Fishermen¡¯s Federation, and Poul Degnbol, ICES. And then the workshop split up into four working groups with the following four tasks to look at:
A reliable data chain for management, control and advice
¡°Smart control¡±: Innovating control i.e. by data combining or new technology
Cost efficiency of full documentation versus traditional control
Technical rules ¨C can they be simplified under CQM?
It was all very technical, and those dealing with management issues on a daily basis were able to contribute with their practical experience. The programme, presentations, report from the working group 4 (Technical rules), pictures and a few papers (relating to the so-called choke species) can now be seen at www.fvm.dk/yieldoffish
We¡¯ll be kept informed on when the final reports become available. ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡
The so-called B7 conference on traditional coastal fisheries, 24th May 2011, Sassnitz, R¨¹gen
Chairman Reine Johansson and from German fisheries sector Peter Breckling represented the BSRAC. No report is available yet, but one BSRAC member who was there has kindly shared his impressions. He felt that two of the important statements were the negative impact on the traditional (small-scale) fisheries exerted by regulations (aiming at protecting cod) and the importance of traditional fisheries for developing tourism in coastal/island areas.
From Russia with love: Meeting with the new representative from the Russian Federation to Denmark
On 26th May Vladimir Belyaev came to say hello to the BSRAC. He has moved to Copenhagen where he will be working for the next three years, representing Russian fisheries interests.We talked amongst other things about the joint EU-Russia Committee under the EU-Russia fisheries agreement for the Baltic and the key areas of discussions there: allocation keys for some of the stocks, cooperation on control, long-term management plans. Dr Belyaev was head of the Russia delegation that met with the EU at the last Joint Committee meeting in April. He was very positive about BSRAC involvement in the process. We invited him to the planned BSRAC meetings in June here in Copenhagen. But unfortunately, they coincide with other fisheries meetings, so we agreed to keep in touch and look forward to the occasion when Russia could come and take part in the BSRAC.
And hello to FLAG and Farnet in wonderful Copenhagen
Farnet is all about supporting the sustainable development of fisheries areas. It supports measures to promote economic diversification (for example tourism, food and renewable energy) and an improved quality of life in areas affected by a decline in fishing activities. It has a full-time staff in Brussels of about 6/7 people. The emphasis is very much on implementation at local level through local Action Groups - forming public and
private partnerships and making a development strategy for the local areas. Farnet representative Gilles van de Walle came to say hello on Friday 27th May whilst in Copenhagen. We agreed that it would be very useful to invite Farnet to a coming meeting later in the year so they can tell the wide BSRAC stakeholder audience about Farnet.Farnet is also planning to hold a fairly big conference sometime in November, in Brussels. Given the CFP reform and the awaited packed for a revised fisheries fund, the Farnet team were already starting to provide input to drafting the new EFF. The anticipation is that the local development trend of Farnet will grow. FARNET was also looking into setting up a special Baltic working group looking at links with the EU¡¯s Baltic Sea Strategy.
and in particular, see on page four how active some of the Baltic countries have been in setting up fisheries local action groups (for example Poland, Germany and Latvia).
The FUTURE
What will the BSRAC be up to/ attending in the coming days/weeks?
The GAP2 start-up meeting London, 7th ¨C9th June 2011: Bridging the gap between science, stakeholders and policy makers
This is the annual meeting for GAP2 and one which will mark the start of the GAP2. The BSRAC is part of the GAP2 consortium, representing stakeholder interests.Niki Sporrong of FishSec will represent BSRAC.
BSRAC joint working group on 8th and 9th June 2011
As mentioned above, to deal with the annual process of advice and recommendation for TACs and quotas for 2012. Registrations are now complete.
HELCOM Fisheries/Environment forum 13th June, Stockholm
This is the sixth time this forum meets. The aim is to continue dialogue, exchange experiences, and to develop common solutions for implementing fisheries-related actions under HELCOM¡¯s Baltic Sea Action plan. Malin Lönroth and Alex Olsen will represent the BSRAC. See the agenda here:
Hamburg Cod amongst other things: Work on the evaluation of the long-term plan for Baltic cod.........
STECF - ICES working group at the Johann Heinrich von Th¨¹nen-Institute, Federal Research Institute, Hamburg, 20th -24th June 2011
John Simmonds, who is organizing and leading this process, has announced that this meeting will take place.
On the draft terms of reference is one major item of interest to the BSRAC:
To provide Impact Assessment reports for Baltic Cod.
Michael Andersen, Reine J. Johansson, Kim Kær Hansen, Magnus Eckeskog will represent the BSRAC.
BSRAC Executive Committee on 28th June 2011, Copenhagen (at Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries)
An agenda and invite for this meeting to be sent out Tuesday 31st May.
Commission and EP news and meetings
The newest version of the European Atlas of the Seas now online! Share the news!
A new and improved version of the European Atlas of the Seas is now available on the website of DG Maritime Affairs and Fisheries: http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeatlas. It includes 24 new maps, hundreds of updates and improvements. New maps (see NEW logo) include:
Natura 2000 protected maritime sites
Pollution response vessels
Coastal GDP
The atlas is an easy and fun way for students, professionals and anyone interested to learn more about Europe's seas and coasts, their environment, related human activities and European policies¡
Source of the Atlas data: mainly European Commission and agencies. Available in: English, German and French.
Take a look at the Atlas http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeatlas and inform your networks that they can now find and use even more atlas information!
Background The European Atlas of the Seas was one of the actions outlined by the Commission when it launched an Integrated Maritime Policy for the European Union in 2007. A pilot version of the atlas has been available on DG Maritime Affairs and Fisheries' public website since May 2010. The new version takes into account the feedback received on the pilot version from the public survey and user testing.
European Parliament: There¡¯s lunch debate on "Maritime spatial planning and integrated coastal zone management" June 15th 12.30 - 14.30
Please note that we have changed room to A3E2.
Contact: MEP Isabella Lövin
Other news and meetings
Call for proposals within the Marine Innovation Programme, module 2 ¨C Meeting future challenges
The Nordic Innovation Centre on behalf of the Nordic partners of the programme ¡°Innovation in the Nordic marine sector¡± invites to submit project applications to module 2 of the programme. This call is focused on future challenges relevant to the marine sector as a whole, and includes the following three topics: New and innovative ways of recruitment, New and innovative solutions for safer and better working conditions, Harmonisation and increased transparency in the Nordic market for marine products and related services. The total Nordic financial amount for this call is NOK 6 mill and deadline for project proposals is 10. June 2011. See here:
Gestrin calls for support to reduce emissions from ships
Christina Gestrin, Chairman of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC), addressed the European Maritime Day in Gdansk with a call for improved maritime surveillance and environmental protection of the Baltic Sea.
"BSPC has called for active support to projects with the objective of reducing harmful emissions from ships and developing reception facilities for waste water from ships. In order to enforce the IMO ban from October 2010 on waste water discharge from passenger ships and ferries in the Baltic Sea, it is necessary that the states around the Sea urgently make adequate port reception facilities available", said Christina Gestrin, in her keynote address to the European Maritime Day in Gdansk 19 May.
Gestrin is Chairman of the BSPC and member of the Nordic Council Presidium.
¡°Strong measures are needed to improve maritime surveillance, safety of navigation and environmental risk reduction, for example by harmonizing and elaborating existing ship reporting systems and vessel traffic services. We have also strongly urged governments to strengthen the joint regional and national capacity to tackle major spills of oil and hazardous substances¡±, she stressed.
The European Maritime Day, arranged by the European Commission, is the biggest annual maritime event in Europe, gathering close to a thousand participants.
The seminar ¡°The challenges of fisheries management and how to address them successfully in the new CFP¡±, organised by WWF on 27 July 2011 in Gdynia has been granted the patronage of the Polish Presidency. More information to follow¡¡¡¡¡¡¡.., but suffice to say that the BSRAC has been invited to speak at this event.
Regards,
Ewa Milewska
WWF Poland
FINAL ICES REMINDER!!!The Annual Science Conference: calling BSRAC stakeholders
The ICES Annual Science Conference is in Gda¨½sk, Poland from 19¨C23 September 2011.
An interview with the General Secretary (Gerd Hubold)
Working together to improve stock (science-stakeholder involvement)
assessments
ICES work on MSFD continues (learn about good environmental status)
The 4th joint seminar of EUSBSR Priority 9 on 27th September 2011
The 4th joint seminar of Priority 9 of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region will take place on Tuesday 27th September 2011, in Helsinki, Finland. Please put this date into your calendar. The meeting venue is
¡°Paasitorni¡± and address: Paasivuorenkatu 5A, Helsinki. The invitation and agenda of the seminar will be sent to you in June.
The seminar will be arranged back-to-back with another seminar, ¡°Common Rural Development Measures for the Baltic Sea Region¡±, which is going to take place on 28 ¨C 29 September at the same location and is addressed to the Rural Development Programmes as well as to certain EUSBSR flagship projects.
You are welcome to forward this message to other persons and organisations who might be interested in the seminar.
The MSC provides a set of guidelines and templates to assist in the transfer of information between stakeholders and Certification Bodies. They can be found here:
Should you wish to submit comments please complete the relevant section and return it to us no later than 17:00 GMT on 1ST of June 2011.
If you do not wish to be kept informed of the progress of this fishery assessment, please contact FCI and we will remove your details from the stakeholder list.
Not long ago we received the second newsletter from the Marine Centre. One thing of note is that the conference room at the marine centre has now been renovated so that makes it possible to hold larger meetings there. You can book the meeting room, at a cost. Contact Helen Lundsholm, 0414-81 99 26, helen.lundsholm@simrishamnsbostader.se.
Lund University and the Marine Centre have formed a three year agreement to cooperate on scientific issues.
The interest in algae is increasing on a global scale. On 30th June the Marine Centre will hold a seminar- together with the Swedish Environment Institute SLU to look at algae: what are the opportunities for using algae, what can they be used for and so on.
If you want to keep updated with the Marine Centre contact
Last, but not least, the Eurofish magazinefrom April - has a very good spread on Estonia
Under the title: New facilities to process Estonian Baltic herring and sprat for export markets. Several pages devoted to the sector, as well as an interview with the Estonian minister. Contact Eurofish
The European Parliament Fisheries Committee at its meeting last week has just presented a report on the Baltic industrial fisheries. It has been written by Hans Lassen, who used to be at ICES. Commission and Council representatives will also attend this Committee meeting.
The report gives a good and detailed overview of the sprat and herring fisheries in the Baltic. In the abstract it says:
The Baltic fisheries that provide sprat and herring for animal feed and for industrial purposes (fish meal and oil production) mainly use trawls. Landings for human consumption are made from fisheries using the same gears. Usage of sprat and herring landings is market driven. Although ICES has not specified the MSY target for all stocks, it appears that Baltic herring and sprat are exploited around or slightly above current MSY levels. Changes in abundance and growth of herring and sprat are at least partly caused by changes in cod predation and environmental conditions.
