The EU’s new catch quotas for herring in the Baltic Sea are being significantly increased. “It would have been safer for the ecosystem to have waited a couple of years before implementing such a large increase,” says Baltic Sea researcher Sara Söderström.
The EU fisheries ministers have in a compromise agreed on this years herring fishing in the Baltic Sea next year. As usual, we can continue to fish, despite the fact that, according to many observers, the herring are running out. But there is one law that the ministers seem to forgotten about, which could lead to them having to tear up this year's compromise. Paragraph 4.6 of the EU's multi-year management plan for the Baltic Sea (MAP).
EU fisheries ministers are currently violating EU laws, yet no one has been held accountable for their actions. However, today, March 16, environmental organizations are taking the issue to the European Court of Justice, arguing that the violation of the law must have serious consequences.
