"EU Looks at Cutting Baltic Cod Catch by a Third"

BRUSSELS - Cod fishermen in the Baltic Sea will have to cut the amount of fish they catch by up to a third in 2007 if the species is to stand a chance of surviving after years of overfishing, the European Commission said on Monday.

Scientists have long advised that eastern Baltic cod has been overfished to the point where it might vanish from the area, so they had recommended an outright fishing ban. In the western Baltic, they wanted to reduce cod catches by 50 percent.

However, the Commission opted to continue its longer-term strategy of gradually reducing the amount of fish taken from the sea as a proportion of available stock, more periods of closure, and limits on variations in annual catches.

In the past, it said fishing bans may undermine the economic basis of the industry and should be avoided if at all possible. Cod catches in the western Baltic for 2007 should fall by 33 percent from this year and by 23 percent in eastern Baltic waters since fish numbers were at dangerously low levels, it said. The proposals will be debated by EU ministers in October.

"The condition of the two cod stocks continues to give serious cause for concern, with the western stock -- which was formerly the stronger of the two -- having again fallen outside safe biological limits," the Commission said in a statement.

A major part of the problem was that there had also been "substantial under-reporting" of cod catches in western Baltic waters during the first half of 2007, it added.

Restrictions already apply to the number of days in a month at sea that vessels may catch cod in the western and eastern Baltic, a measure that the EU calls reducing "fishing effort".

There are also seasonal cod fishing bans in place: two months in the eastern Baltic, and one month in the western.

Salmon has also become a concern in Baltic waters due to a very low survival rate of young fish, meaning that adult salmon numbers may fall substantially in the next few years. The Commission proposed to cut 2007 salmon catches by 15 percent.

Other species were faring a little better, particularly the central Baltic herring stock where the Commission proposed an overall catch increase of 11 percent for next year.

Herring populations form a continuous chain extending from the North Sea to the northernmost parts of the Baltic Sea.

A small oily fish, herrings move in vast schools and arrive in springtime at the shores of Europe and America, where they are caught and salted, pickled and smoked in great quantities.
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I guess I'm going to have to learn to like herring....

Environmental Defense suggests Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) may be the most ecological choice for eating.

From: wikipedia