Latvian Ministry of Culture reports that the country’s herring fishing quota will go down by 43% next year. This was decided on Sunday, the 22nd of October, during the Baltic Sea Cooperation Platform Baltfish industry high-level expert meeting.
It was at this meeting that the fishing opportunities proposal for Baltic States was prepared. With this meeting, Baltfish proposed significantly reducing the fishing quotas for herring and sprats.
The European Commission previously suggested shutting down specialised herring fishing in the Baltic Sea.
European Union (EU) Agriculture and Fisheries Council agreed to the compromise suggestion from Baltfish countries on the 23rd and 24th of October. Spain, the country presiding over the Council of Europe then proposed changes to the 2024 fishing quotas. The compromise was unanimously approved by the council on the 24th of October, the Ministry of Agriculture reports.
This means Latvia will see a reduction of herring fishing quotas of 43% instead of 60%.
The condition that was supposed to permit the fishing of herring only as an addition to fishing other kinds of fish will not be imposed for 2024. The Ministry of Agriculture notes that this increased Latvia’s herring fishing quota by 227 tonnes.
The ministry also notes that, considering the situation with the Baltic Sea’s herring population, this slight improvement holds vital importance to allow fishermen to continue sprat fishing, where herring forms a small portion of fishing volumes.
European authorities also agreed on a significantly smaller reduction for sprats, setting it at 10% instead of 23%, as was suggested by the initial offer from the European Commission. This means Latvia’s sprat fishing quota was increased by 4 037 tonnes when compared to the initial proposal from EC.
Latvia and Estonia stressed that the planned herring fishing quota reduction in the Gulf of Riga – 20% – is higher than what scientific research suggests.
Scientific recommendations allow for no more than a 17% reduction to ensure a stable fish population. Even a 3% fishing opportunity difference gives Latvia an additional 778 tonnes for herring fishing.
Similarly to previous years, salmon and cod are allowed to be fished along the coast and only in addition to other fish. Specialised fishing of these fish is not allowed since 2020. Salmon fishing quotas for 2024 are reduced by 15% for Latvia.
The ministry notes that this is sufficient to cover the by-catch needs of Latvian fishermen’s salmon in mixed fishing of different species on the coast.
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Latvian Minister of Agriculture Armands Krauze stressed after the decision was made by the council that the viability of fisheries and coastal regions is a particularly important area of activity for Latvia. This is why the ministry will always prioritise these topics.
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