Every year, the EU decides on new fishing quotas. When it was decided last year to double the herring quota in the central Baltic Sea until 2025, it was described as a "death blow for the herring and the sprat" and even Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) expressed concern.
Until 2026, the EU Commission proposes that the quota for herring fishing in the Gulf of Bothnia be reduced by 62 percent compared to 2025, from 66,446 tons to 25,560 tons. In the Gulf of Riga, a reduction of 17 percent is proposed, according to a press release.
But in the central Baltic Sea, the quota of 83,881 tons will be retained. According to the EU Commission, a good development of the herring stock is expected in the future.
Targeted fishing for cod has been prohibited for several years in the western and eastern Baltic Sea. That direction is proposed to remain, but with significantly reduced quotas for cod as bycatch.
The only fishing quota proposed to be increased is salmon in the Gulf of Finland, by 1 percent.
