A couple of weeks ago, the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (HaV) concluded in an investigation that two of the three seal species that inhabits Swedish waters are declining. The grey seal is increasing overall, but it has moved over to the Finnish side, the harbor seals are threatened by a total population crash, while the ringed seals have a stable population so far. Yet the government now wants to increase seal hunting to save the fish.
The UK's Blue Marine Foundation, a marine charity, is taking the UK to court for allowing overfishing in British waters. And above all, that it happens opposite to the levels that science says is possible to raise.
In 2023, relatively many lobsters were caught in the Swedish and Norwegian waters, but this was not because the number of lobsters has increased, on the contrary.
Axel Wenblad, is former director general at the Swedish Fisheries Agency. He was interviewed in Peter Löfgren's latest documentary "Power over the sea". After the film, he got angry and wrote an open letter to Minister for Rural Affairs Peter Kullgren. This is the letter;
All citizens want fish-rich, healthy seas. The EU is governed democratically. So why are the EU's seas fished out and on the brink of ecological collapse? The decisions are made in closed rooms, beyond democratic control.
The fish in the oceans have shrunk - but at the same time have become more numerous, shows a new global study. This suggests that nature compensates so that the weight of all life is kept stable, the researchers believe. Both warmer seas and our hunger for large fish are thought to contribute.
