Oceana is disappointed with votes on the report by Marek Gróbarczyk adopted by members of the EU Parliament Fisheries Committee this week - it is pushing for stronger action to be taken.
In a bid to protect the world’s oceans, the text conceived by the Commission back in 2001, six years after the International Baltic Sea Fisheries Commission Plan for Baltic salmon stopped being applied.
Hanna Paulomäki, project manager, Oceana Baltic Sea, said: “Although management is a significant step, overall, the text adopted today is a disappointment riddled with loopholes that will certainly undermine any action undertaken to preserve this dwindling stock. Until these loopholes are closed, this plan will only scratch the surface of the problem. We hope the Council will prove to be more ambitious in protecting this iconic species.”
Oceana hopes for protected and maintained healthy salmon populations from salmon fishing in marine waters. As well as this, it's pushing for a minimum landing size common to sea trout and salmon because undersized salmon is often misreported as sea trout to launder illegal salmon catches.
However, it does welcome the fact that the multiannual plan will apply to both commercial and recreational fisheries since both play an importance role in salmon fishing in the Baltic Sea - therefore it says that the obligation to notify and report on fishing activities should be the same.
