98% of landings in the Baltic Sea will come from sustainable fisheries
New quotas for fishing in the Baltic Sea were announced this week and the value of landings for the next year is of €1 billion, with an average gross profit margin of above 30%.
The European Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella declared that "decisions for 2019 need to be ambitious and responsible, in line with the objective to reach maximum sustainable yield (or MSY) levels by 2020 at the latest".
Therefore, in 2019, over 98% of estimated landings in the Baltic Sea will come from sustainable fisheries, mentioned the official.
There will be increased catches of western cod, sprat, plaice and Gulf of Riga herring, while the salmon quota in the main basin was kept at the same level. "We decided to decrease catches for eastern cod, salmon in the Gulf of Finland and for western, central and eastern herring, as well as herring in the Gulf of Bothnia.
On western cod, I am pleased that things are looking better in 2019. However, the stock is not yet seeing a sustained recovery. It is a good story that rests entirely on one good year in 2016. This is why it was important to limit the increase to levels that will still leave enough of that good year in the sea so that this fish can fill up the stock and produce more fish for the years to come.
While Council today has decided to increase the catch limits by more than that proposed by the Commission, this increase will still keep this catch limit in the lower half of the lower MSY-range. This should still help us to stay at sustainable levels also in the coming years", added Commissioner Vella.
On the other hand, western herring is to see a reduction of 48% and additional conservation measures to be taken by the Member States.
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