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Each year, based on proposals from the European Commission, the Council of Ministers (at the agro-fishing configuration represented by the member states fisheries ministers) decides the so-called fishing opportunities for the member states. These “opportunities” are known as total allowable catches (TAC).

During autumn 2015, the Council of Ministers and the European Commission will set the level of TACs for most of the important commercial fish stocks and sea areas, excluding the Mediterranean Sea. These TACs will apply from 1 January 2016.

TACs are subsequently divided up among EU states according to long-term pre-agreed percentage shares called quotas. Quotas are administered by the member states; they then share out their national quotas among existing fishing vessels or groups of fishing vessels in a country. Each quota share represents a right to catch and to land a certain amount of fish within the calendar year. In some fisheries there are accompanying limits on the numbers of days vessels can spend fishing, taking into account the powerful capacity of each vessel.

Maximum Sustainable Yield, MSY

The reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) came into force on 1 January 2014. The new Policy fixes an objective of reaching Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) exploitation rates by 2015 where possible and by 2020 at the latest.

The MSY rate is the amount of fishing that will deliver the highest long-term catch from a stock, so any fishing above that level is wasteful, harmful and ultimately unprofitable for the fishermen.

For the first time, the TAC for plaice in 2016 has been set in line with the MSY approach, bringing the total number of Baltic stocks covered by MSY to 7 (out of 10).

The reduction is made according to scientific advices from the member states: scientists working in the fishing sector take samples of fish from commercial landings, from discarded fishing stocks while using research vessels to sample the amounts of fish in the sea at different places and different times of year. From this data, the scientists work out the amounts of sustainable catch to be taken in the next year.

Due to the fact that fish migrate and mix across different sea areas, scientists need to share their data and work together in international scientific committees. Al, these recommendations are passed to the European Commission, which uses them to make proposals on TACs each year.

The Commission's proposals are notably based on scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) and other independent bodies.

Timetable for the Baltic States

Fishing opportunities for the Baltic States were proposed by the Commission on 2 September (IP/15/5563) and will be discussed and subsequently adopted by the EU states’ fisheries ministers in the Council of Ministers in October 2015.

For stocks in the Black Sea, the proposals are scheduled for discussion in September/October and are expected to be adopted by the fisheries ministers in the Council of Ministers in December 2015. The largest package covering the Atlantic, North Sea and other areas is scheduled to be proposed by the Commission in October and adopted in December.

For further information see:

·                     Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), with link to Regulation: http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/index_en.htm

·                     TACs and quotas (with link to the proposal): http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/fishing_rules/tacs/index_en.htm

·                     Scientific advice on managing fish stocks: http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/fishing_rules/scientific_advice/index_en.htm

General reference: European Commission, MEMO/15/5564, in:

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-15-5564_en.htm

Fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea for 2016

The annual proposal for the amount of fish that EU fishermen may catch from the Baltic Sea's 10 main commercial fish stocks, also known as Total Allowable Catch (TAC) are discussed and adopted at the end of each calendar year.

The present proposals will be discussed by the EU ministers at the Fisheries Council in Luxembourg on 22-23 October. The proposal figures are based on scientific advice from the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee on Fisheries (STECF) and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).

The Baltic Sea Advisory Council (BSAC) has also been consulted on this proposal, on the basis of the Commission's Policy Statement (COM (2015) 239 final) and the advice received from ICES.

For 7 of the 10 stocks, the available data from the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee on Fisheries (STECF) and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has allowed the Commission to propose catch limits at sustainable levels, or within what is known as the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY), for more stocks than ever before. The EU aims to achieve MSY for all fish stocks by 2020 at the latest.

Based on the autumn-2015 proposals, the TACs for all stocks, except salmon, would decrease by about 15% compared to 2015. It would be set at approximately 565 692 tonnes. The catch limit for salmon, which is measured in pieces rather than tonnes, would increase by 6%, to 115 874.

More specifically, the Commission proposes to increase the catch limits for herring in the Western and Central Baltic, as well as for Baltic Main Basin salmon, and plaice.

Decreases in the remaining Baltic Sea fish stocks either reflect the natural fluctuations within the MSY range or are linked to the improved perception of stocks’ status as a result of recent data revision.

The Council will discuss the Commission's proposals with a view to their adoption at its October meeting; if adopted, the proposals will apply from 1 January 2016.

Herring

Under the Commission's proposals, all four Baltic herring stocks would continue to be fished at MSY levels, as was already the case in 2015.

A continuing improvement in Western and Central herring stocks has allowed the Commission to propose increased catch limits for both stocks. The quota for Western herring would increase by 12% to 24 797 tonnes, and for Central herring by 9% to 177 505 tonnes.

In contrast, Bothnian Sea herring would experience the biggest overall TAC decrease in 2016: a drop of –35%, to 103 254 tonnes. This reduction reflects ICES' decision to change the way this stock is assessed. The Commission expects that this change will improve the quality of ICES' assessment of fishing stocks in the coming years.

The Commission also proposed to decrease the TAC for Riga herring by –21%, to 30 623 tonnes.

Cod

In line with ICES' advice, the Commission proposed to decrease the TAC for Eastern Baltic cod by 20%, to 41 143 tonnes.

Data shows that Western cod stocks are overfished and have fallen below sustainable biological limits. The Commission expects Member States within the Council to agree on effective and adequate additional measures in order to improve the status of this stock. As the Commission is still awaiting additional data from ICES, it has not yet proposed a quota for this stock.

Salmon

The Commission proposed to increase the TAC for Baltic Main Basin salmon by 10%, to a total catch of 105 850. This is in line with the MSY approach.

Following ICES' advice, the Commission proposed a decrease of –24% for salmon in the Gulf of Finland, corresponding to a quota of 10 024 for this stock.

Sprat

This year ICES has updated fishing mortality rates for sprat. As a result, catch limits will decrease by 14%, to 184 336 tonnes. This proposal is also in line with MSY.

Plaice

The Baltic plaice stock experienced the biggest proposed TAC increase: +18%. The increase is the result of the conservative TAC setting practice in the past, but also of an improved stock assessment methodology that allowed the Commission to propose a quota in line with the MSY approach.

For more information see:

·                     MEMO/15/5564;

·                     TACs and quotas (with link to the proposal): http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/fishing_rules/tacs/index_en.htm;

·                     Scientific advice on managing fish stocks: http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/fishing_rules/scientific_advice/index_en.htm;

·                     Website of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES): http://www.ices.dk/Pages/default.aspx

Table: Overview of TAC changes 2015-2016 (figures in tonnes except for salmon which is in number of pieces)

Reference: European Commission, Press release IP/15/5563; Brussels, 2 September 2015, In:

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-5563_en.htm