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On a difference of opinion in the establishment of fishing opportunities in Estonia and the Baltic Sea

The negotiations in Luxembourg to set the 2012 fishing Total Allowable Catches (TAC) for the Baltic Sea ended with five of the eight countries located along the Baltic Sea refusing to accept the quota cuts recommended by the president of the meeting and the fishing industry representative. Since all Member States have the right to vote, not just those along the shores of the Baltic Sea, the fishing quota cuts were adopted with a majority vote in the Agriculture and Fisheries Council.


“Baltic herring and sprat supplies are not threatened. Our supplies are stable and have been so for the last 20 years, and some supplies are even at a notably higher level than the long-term average. The lack of willingness on the part of the representative to take into consideration the data provided by fish specialists surprised all of our four neighbours, who were also opposed to the radical fishing cuts," explained Keit Pentus. “Since the greatest influence on sprat and herring supplies, next to fishing, is the cod, it was our proposal to treat the two as connected species of fish. If cod were allowed to be caught in greater numbers, as recommended by scientists, it would mean that the implementation of such drastic measures for the protection of sprat and herring would not be required. Unfortunately, the council did not explore the above in greater detail."


The Minister of the Environment added that Estonia achieved through negotiations, in comparison with initial proposal by the fishing industry representative, a much better result, but the ideal solution was not reached. “Our own calculations showed that the state of fisheries resources would have permitted for a much more balanced approach.” The Minister noted that the events in the Agriculture and Fisheries Council are in their own way confirmation that the current decision making mechanism is not the best. “The Total Allowable Catches (TAC) which were argued over, affect eight Baltic Sea countries. Of those eight countries – Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Latvia and Lithuania – did not agree with the end result. Regardless of this, the president of the meeting was able, with the help of other indirectly involved Member States, to pass the decision. This action cannot be deemed reasonable."


Estonia was affected the most by the dispute in 2012 over the TAC for sprat and herring According to the initial proposal by the fishing industry representative, the TAC for sprat would have been reduced by 26% and the TAC for herring from the open Baltic Sea by 32%, and the TAC for the Gulf of Riga by 21%. Following negotiations the president's compromise proposal was to reduce the TAC for sprat by 22%, open sea herring by 27% and Gulf of Riga herring by 16%. This proposal was adopted in the Agriculture and Fisheries Council. Estonia’s position was that in order to reach the goal of a maximum sustainable yield by 2015, the TAC for 2012 should be reduced by 15%.