EU Fishing Quatas Probably Illegal
The quotas for herring fishing in the Baltic Sea in 2026 have been decided by the EU Council of Ministers. Now, voices are being raised from several quarters that the fishing quotas in the Bothnian Sea and Bothnian Bay are illegally high.
Text: Arvid Wiclander Mellgren
EU Regulation 2016/1139 determines how fishing quotas in the Baltic Sea are to be set. The regulation includes the so-called five per cent rule. This rule sets a limit to protect fish stocks from overfishing and stipulates that fishing pressure must not be so high that the risk of the number of reproductive fish falling below a critical level exceeds five per cent.
‘the Council of Ministers is breaking the law’
In connection with the decision on quotas, MEP Isabella Lövin (MP) said that the Council of Ministers was deliberately breaking the law.
According to advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), a total quota of just over 25,000 tonnes or less was required in the Bothnian Sea and Bothnian Bay in order to remain within the five per cent rule. Instead, the quota was set at just over 39,000 tonnes, and the risk of the spawning herring stock collapsing will exceed five per cent, according to ICES.
David Langlet, professor of environmental law at Uppsala University, notes that the quota decision would likely be rejected if it were tested in court.
´The ICES Council is not a model of pedagogy, but it is clear that a quota of no more than 25,560 tonnes is needed to remain within the five per cent rule. It is highly unlikely that the European Court of Justice will come to any other conclusion than that the Council of Ministers acted in contravention of the regulation and outside its mandate,´ he says.
Legal proceedings initiated
In 2024, the organisation Clean Coalition Baltic (CCB) initiated legal proceedings against a previous quota decision. This was also because the Council of Ministers had violated, among other things, the five per cent rule according to the CCB. The ruling in the case is expected in the first half of 2026.
In 2024, David Langlet also wrote a report for Baltic Waters in which he noted the same thing as now — the Council of Ministers’ decision did not respect the regulation.
‘Politicians wanted to establish an absolute limit in some way. As I understand it, they didn’t think they would need to use it. Now we’ve ended up in a situation where it really should be triggered, so it’s not so much fun anymore,’ he says.
The CCB believes that it will win the court case. It argues that there is no other way to interpret the situation than that the Council of Ministers has violated EU law.
“The 5% rule is important for avoiding disaster”
‘This is not open to interpretation. The five per cent rule is a very important limit for avoiding disaster,’ Aimi Hamberg, marine environment advisor at CCB, told Deep Sea Reporter.
However, if new legal proceedings were to be initiated against the Council of Ministers, it would take time. The CCB’s case is not yet complete – and this applies to the quotas for 2024.
‘Most cases are eventually tried, but it can take a long time. The legal machinery grinds slowly, and in the worst case, the issue may no longer be relevant by the time it comes to trial. In that way, the system can be abused,’ says David Langlet.
The herring population in the Bothnian Sea and Bothnian Bay has been declining steadily since 1995, and scientists warn that even a total ban on fishing would not allow it to recover quickly enough.
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