The EU Council of Ministers today presented its decision on next year’s fishing quotas in the Baltic Sea. Despite repeated alarms about empty nets from coastal fishermen, the Council has chosen to make decisions that are against the so-called five percent rule – the emergency brake in EU fisheries legislation. In the central Baltic Sea, the quota is being increased, while it is only being reduced slightly in the Bothnian Sea compared to last year. The decisions are being met with sharp criticism from the Green Party’s EU parliamentarian Isabella Lövin.
- That the ministers are increasing the quotas in the central Baltic Sea when the herring stocks are already on the verge of collapse is completely unjustifiable. The decision is against both science and the EU’s own rules. The Council of Ministers is deliberately breaking the law, and I expect the Swedish government to now stand up for our common rules and take the Council to court, says Isabella Lövin.
Lövin believes that the decision on the Bothnian Sea, where the quota has been reduced slightly, is not by a long way enough.
Isabella Lövin, MEP for the Green Party and group leader in the Fisheries Committee
– Reducing the quota in the Bothnian Sea is not good enough. The quota is contrary to the five percent rule, the so-called emergency brake, in the legislation. In the Bothnian Sea, the situation is so serious that more and far-reaching measures are required. I fully support the 44 municipalities in northern Sweden that recently demanded an end to industrial fishing in the Bothnian Sea – but we must go further than that. Industrial fishing must be stopped in the entire Baltic Sea. And the government has that opportunity. They can already decide now that the Swedish quota should only go to fishermen who fish for human consumption, not to industrial trawlers who empty the seas. That would give the Baltic Sea a much-needed breathing space and benefit small-scale coastal fishing, says Lövin.
She also criticizes the government.
– It is good that Sweden has finally taken a hard line and voted no, but it comes far too late. Kullgren should have done this in the last three quota negotiations he has been responsible for. It is also embarrassing for the Commission that they have accepted increased quotas and thus illegal overfishing. If Kullgren wants to make a real impact as Minister responsible for fisheries, he must start acting today ahead of next year’s quota negotiations. An important first step would be to take the initiative for new scientific advice that takes into account the uncertainties in the Baltic Sea. This would provide a completely different starting point in future negotiations – one that actually makes it possible to start building up the stocks again, says Lövin.
