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2019 ICES advice for the Baltic Sea

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Troubled waters in need of real solutions

Warsaw, 6th of June 2018

Marcin Ruciński

 

On 31 May, ICES have released their annual catch advice for the main stocks in the Baltic Sea, which will guide decision-makers in negotiations of fishing opportunities for 2019. LIFE takes a first look at ICES recommendations, on the basis of initial views and comments provided by our Members. We will come with more suggestions later, as our internal discussions progress.

 

Cod: a tale of two crises

The Eastern Baltic cod is now clearly in a state of deep crisis and far-reaching measures are needed. The stock suffers from many difficulties, among which scientists enumerate: illegal and unreported discards, continuing despite a comprehensive ban, mobile gear modifications leading to high levels of undersized fish in catches, food deprivation caused by intensive pelagic effort in the cod distribution area, anoxic areas inhibiting spawning in areas other than Bornholm Deep, lack of large fish in the stock to positively impact spawning success and the impact of an increasing grey seal population. The TAC has not been fully taken since 2010 and has no limiting effect on the fishery. It is clear that managers will need to look for solutions outside the usual toolbox to help cod turn the corner. These should include:

  • dealing with the illegal discards problem and ending the practices that are causing it, once and for all;
  • strong measures, effectively enforced to protect cod spawning, especially in the Bornholm Deep;
  • overcoming the cod food deprivation issue by moving at least a part of the pelagic fishing effort north of Subdivisions 25 and 26.

LIFE is now in the process of elaborating detailed suggestions for this crucial stock in the form of an Action Plan.

The Western Baltic cod stock and allied advice show clear signs of improvement after the 2016 crisis, on the basis of the strong 2016 year-class and high stock productivity assumed by ICES using the relatively high “breadth” of Fmsy ranges. However, the 2016 year-class is surrounded by two years of very low recruitment in 2015 and 2017; the last of them is the lowest on record. Being precautionary when it comes to the level of TAC increase is thus an absolute priority.

Herring: a tragic surprise in the West, declining stock in the East

The Western Baltic herring stock advice is a tragic surprise, especially in view of a good spring fishing season for this stock that has just finished. Livelihoods of many small-scale fishermen who depend on this stock are directly threatened as a result of zero catch advice. We note that as a result of advice benchmarking this year, the key stock reference points (Blim, MSY Btrigger) have been revised upwards. This needs to be properly explained, given that the recruitment and SSB estimates in the advice have been revised downwards.

Further East, the Central Baltic herring stock is also not doing well, as is confirmed by the disappointing results of the herring season, at least in coastal waters. Also here, a dependence on the 2014 year-class is a reason for concern.

Sprat

ICES advises that a spatial management plan is considered for the fisheries that catch sprat and LIFE strongly agrees with this advice. It is high time that at least a good part of fishing effort on sprat be moved north of the Subdivisions 25-26, which can easily be done by simple quota management solutions. Overcoming the cod food deprivation scenario is a major concern for the Baltic ecosystem as a whole and must be a priority for the managers.

All stocks

When applying the necessary cuts, managers should bear in mind the need to provide sufficient quotas to the small-scale, low impact fishing communities, which depend on their traditional fishing grounds and do not, unlike their larger brethren have the ability to simply steam away to other fishing grounds.

Ecosystem overview: a very useful tool that needs further elaboration

We thank ICES for giving the traditional yearly advice a context going beyond just the mathematical models and MSY- or precautionary approach-based numbers and issues related to these. In addition to placing fisheries within the wider ecosystem, it is also important for decision-makers to locate fisheries as an integral part of a wider maritime sector and Blue Economy development actions. Within this approach, small-scale fisheries and its role in providing livelihoods and contributing to the economy and cultural heritage of local coastal communities across the Baltic Sea needs to be spelled out and understood more clearly.

LIFE is grateful to ICES for reminding everyone that the fishing effort with gillnets may be a problem for certain water bird species, if not properly addressed at a regional or local level, in a correct temporal and spatial context. We are ready to work together with ICES to help to positively deal with the issue by looking for solutions that are best tailored to the needs of local ecosystems and fishing communities they support. Some of our Members can share examples of cooperative approaches successfully used in practice elsewhere, in the Baltic Sea and beyond, which could be a useful inspiration. For example, a new pinger system tested in cooperation with fishers in German waters decreased by-catch of porpoises more than 70 %.

We are also ready to expand our close cooperation with BirdLife International[1] to address the issues mentioned. We would also be grateful for a cooperation with ICES to look at the data on the actual gillnet fishing effort, given its recent and marked decline in many Baltic small-scale fishing communities.

We find it much more worrying though that ICES’s Ecosystem Overview makes no mention whatsoever of the impact of certain predators, in particular grey seal and black cormorant, on fish stocks and particularly small-scale fisheries across the Region. There are a number of initiatives to find constructive solutions to this important issue which weighs heavily on many Baltic small-scale fishing communities[2], This should also have been referenced in the ICES document.

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[1] Our joint letter available here https://dani012.supserv.cozmoslabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/JointLetter-BirdLife-LIFE.pdf

[2] Records of the recent discussions on the predators’ impact question can be found here (BSAC) http://www.bsac.dk/getattachment/Meetings/BSAC-meetings/Executive-Committee-and-sub-group-on-ecosystem-bas/BSACreportEBMsubgroup031017EXCEPTSALMONFINAL.pdf.aspx?lang=en-GB , point 2 and here (HELCOM) https://portal.helcom.fi/meetings/FISH%208-2018-509/MeetingDocuments/Outcome%20of%20FISH%208-2018.pdf , points 7.9.-7.12. Furthermore, a transnational cooperation project implemented by FLAGs https://balticfisheries.com is worth noting

biscayby

Survival of Sea Bass and Small Scale Handliners in the Balance

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biscayby

Survival of Sea Bass and Small Scale Handliners in the Balance

ICES Advice for Sea Bass in 2017: Zero catches based on precautionary approach?

 

Brussels, 11th July 2016

Brian O’Riordan

LIFE Platform

 

Scientific assessment and observations from small-scale fisheries highlight the poor state of sea bass stocks, and raise major concerns about the survival of the resources and of the fishers who depend on them.

Released on June 30, the ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) advice on sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) for 2017 recommends a total closure of the fishery in the ICES divisions IV b–c, VII a, and VII d–h (central and southern North Sea, Irish Sea, English Channel, Bristol Channel, and Celtic Sea) – http://www.ices.dk/sites/pub/Publication%20Reports/Advice/2016/2016/bss-47.pdf

The advice will feed into the process to establish fishing opportunities for 2017, including proposals for Multi-Annual Plans (MAPs) for the North Sea and for Western Waters.

This has set alarm bells ringing for small-scale low impact fishers who depend on this fish species for most of their income. In France, the Platform for Small Scale Artisanal Fisheries (PPPAF) – a member of LIFE, representing fishers from the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts – highlights that for the handline fleet, after facing increasingly difficult years, the ICES announcement is tantamount to a death sentence – http://www.plateforme-petite-peche.fr/?p=440.

Small scale fishers from Holland, England and France report the absence of bass in their catches. Sales of bass from the handline fleet in French port markets from January to June have crashed from 221 tonnes in 2015 to 127 tonnes in 2016, a decline of 43%. Over the same period, sales of bass caught by gill nets and trawlers in these markets reached 1165 tonnes in 2016 (compared to 1502 tonnes from January to June in 2015), or nearly 10 times higher than sales from hook caught fish.

Worryingly, similar trends are being witnessed by French fishers in the Bay of Biscay, where declines in catches have been witnessed over the last 3 years.  The PPPAF highlight that the purely arbitrary delimitation of the 48th parallel allows the Bay of Biscay to be free of any management measures. This is serious error that urgently needs reviewing. PPPAF recommend establishing a biological closure to protect winter spawning of the bass in the Bay of Biscay, as is being done to the North, in the Channel. This, along with more stringent individual catch limits is imperative says the PPPAF; drastic limits must also be set on recreational fishing.

Once again small scale fisheries are the victim of inertia in the system.

According to PPPAF this crisis is not just about the bass and it’s not just about the liners. The crisis is caused by the complete dysfunctionality of the entire sector. It has been brought about by the previous over exploitation of the hake, followed by the anchovy, and now by the sole, leading to displacement of effort onto the bass. In France, the crisis is also about a generalised fraud that the State is unable to prevent. In 2016, a segment of the French trawler fleet illegally caught dozens of tonnes of bass with complete impunity, and from July 2016, these same boats will be allocated a monthly quota of one tonne up to end of the year.

But it is not just in France where the system is dysfunctional. In the UK, Dutch vessels flagged to the UK, are not inspected by UK authorities and there is anecdotal evidence of undeclared landings being transported to Belgian and other ports. In Dutch waters, LIFE has received reports of high concentrations of juvenile fish on the grounds, which are highly vulnerable to seine net fishing.

For decades, landings of bass from the French liners has remained stable, at around 300 tonnes in the Channel, or 10% of the total bass catches in the zone. France wide a total fleet of over 300 vessels is threatened. The liners’ catches only represent a tiny part of what is taken, practicing a fishing method that is respectful of the environment and of the resource, which is extremely selective, adding significant value to their fish. Nevertheless, it is they who are at most risk of disappearing.

But the imposition of a total closure is not a miracle cure. The lack of selectivity and the discards generated by other practices are equally at the heart of the problem. Discarding of bass by French trawlers in the northern zone has been estimated by the professional organizations to be 50 tonnes per month between December and April, prior to the 42 cm limit. The discards of bass alone are a tonne higher than the catches of liners.

LIFE argues that the stark advice from ICES must catalyse a significantly less sectoral approach to future advice. It would be counterproductive to play the blame game; along with all commercial metiers and together with the recreational sector, we all have to assume the burden of responsibility for the current situation.

At the same time, LIFE calls on policy makers at EU and national level to ensure that small scale fishers using low impact gears are not unfairly discriminated against by any new emergency measures, that effort is cut where effort cuts are most needed, and where emergency measures are imposed that financial compensation is duly provided to those whose needs are greatest, and whose survival is most at risk.

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