EU ministers keep Baltic cod and herring bycatch limits unchanged for 2027

Commission cuts rejected for cod and herring bycatch

EU agriculture and fisheries ministers agreed in Luxembourg on Monday, 26 October, on Baltic Sea catch limits for 2027. Member states declined to back the European Commission's proposed cuts to unintended catches, known as bycatch, of western cod, eastern cod and western herring, so those limits stay at the current year's level. The Commission had proposed reducing the bycatch limit for western cod by 88%, for eastern cod by 51% and for western herring by 45%. Poland had opposed those cuts, and the agreement means bycatch quotas for all three species will not be lowered.

Coastal fishers keep a narrow exception

Germany's federal minister in charge of agriculture and food, Alois Rainer, had lobbied for keeping the exception for small coastal fishers. Speaking in Luxembourg on Monday morning before the meeting, he said:

“The Commission's proposal goes too far, especially for western herring.”

Small coastal fishers can still target herring in the western Baltic using passive gear such as gillnets, although targeted herring fishing there has been banned since 2022. Rainer argued that a full ban would probably have cost many fishers their livelihoods, and he said the exception does not endanger herring stocks. Commercial fishing for western cod, eastern cod and western herring has been banned across the Baltic for several years, and the recreational cod fishing ban covering the whole regulated area has also been kept. Hobby anglers may still keep one farmed salmon released into the Baltic per day.

Herring and sprat catches rise

Central Baltic herring catches rise by 71% to about 165,000 tonnes, more than the 49% increase the Commission had proposed. Gulf of Riga herring increases by 11% to about 28,000 tonnes, sprat by 44% to about 292,000 tonnes, and plaice by 3% to about 11,300 tonnes. The member states tied these changes to the condition of the stocks in their press release.

Commission proposal49%

Ministers agreed71%

Commission proposal

49 %

Ministers agreed

71 %

Data from the article text

The overall catch quantities were set by ministers, who then divide them into national quotas. The bycatch figures reported by the outlets differ, so the national shares below come with the sources attached. The Polish report gives 2026 totals of 266 tonnes of western cod bycatch, 430 tonnes of eastern cod and 788 tonnes of western herring, with Poland receiving 31, 113 and 103 tonnes respectively. Handelsblatt reported that 437 tonnes of western herring, 31 tonnes of western cod and 211 tonnes of eastern cod may still be landed as bycatch under the 2027 agreement, and the two sets of figures are not reconciled in the articles.

Central Baltic herring165,000

Sprat292,000

Gulf of Riga herring28,000

Plaice11,300

Central Baltic herring

165000 tonnes

Sprat

292000 tonnes

Gulf of Riga herring

28000 tonnes

Plaice

11300 tonnes

Data from the article text

What comes next

The political agreement is in place, and formal adoption is expected in November, according to Handelsblatt. Ireland's fisheries minister, Martin Heydon, also issued a statement on the deal. The Commission prepares the annual proposals using scientific advice from ICES, with the aim of preventing overfishing. The Baltic faces pressures including climate change and the loss of biodiversity, which the agreement is meant to help address through the recovery of cod and herring stocks.