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Baltic Sea Advisory Council

BSAC

The main aim of the BSAC is to prepare and provide advice on the management of Baltic Sea fisheries in order to achieve a successful running of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Isabella Lövin (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

14 Jan 2026 · Baltic Sea fisheries management (Baltic MAP)

Meeting with Costas Kadis (Commissioner) and

14 Oct 2025 · Upcoming October AGRIFISH Council

Response to Sustainable fishing in the EU: state of play and orientations for 2025

30 Aug 2024

Ref: BSAC/2024-2025/19 DATE: 30.08.2024 INTRODUCTION The BSAC takes note of the Commissions Communication and accompanying Staff Working Document. The BSAC is hereby providing, as requested by the Commission, comments to the Commissions Communication and the accompanying Staff Working Document .
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Response to Correction to the multiannual programmes for fisheries

29 Jan 2024

The full BSAC response is attached to this extract. Procedural aspects The BSAC underlines that the BSAC was not formally consulted on this proposal before the opening of the feedback mechanism and no formal discussions within the BSAC had previously taken place, despite the inference of such discussions under the heading stakeholder consultations in the proposal. Further, the feedback period is limited to 8 weeks (including the Christmas break) and closes after some of the co-legislators might have will already have started discussions or potentially agreed on a position. Such fast-track consultation is another example of a paper exercise where we fail to see how input from BSAC will be taken into account properly. Deletion of Article 4.6 The BSAC recommends to delete Article 4.6 of the MAP in line with the European Commissions proposal. This will address the inconsistency in the legal framework and clarify the guidelines for setting fishing opportunities. The proposed deletion is clearly needed to move discussions away from legal quarrels and instead focus on obtaining healthy fish stocks and environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable fishing opportunities. Some small-scale fisheries representatives recognise the issues with the 5% rule but are disappointed by the Commission proposal that does not resolve the question of what to do once stocks are under MSY Btrigger and Blim. They find the proposal to be confusing further the interpretation of the Baltic MAP which risks worsening the health of stock biomass. They see clear issues with the 95% rule and the scientific calculations upon which it is based on and note that ICES does not use BMSY as the baseline for assessing which level of fishing mortality corresponds with MSY. The key is to ensure that stock biomass is at healthy levels (above BMSY). Finally, they remark that the proposal does nothing to ensure that the socioeconomic possibilities for the fishery are improved. A BSAC minority group strongly opposes the European Commission proposal. They point out that the deletion of the 5% rule will remove the safeguard when targeted fishery must be stopped and therefore worsen the state of the stock. This is because the safeguards and remedial measures set out in Article 5 are insufficient to prevent fish stocks from collapsing to critical levels. Furthermore, they highlight that the proposal is inconsistent with the objectives of the CFP and create further confusion in relation to Article 5 as to when and what appropriate remedial measures must be required. Finally, they underline that clear and legally binding safeguards, including an obligation to a temporary stop of targeted fishery, are needed. In their view, Article 5 in its current form does not provide explicit details on what is an appropriate point to adopt a fishery closure. Conclusion In the past, the BSAC expressed the opinion that the MAP has not lived up to its expectations and has not delivered the expected results during 6 years of its implementation. The inconsistencies in the MAP, identified in the Commissions proposal to delete Article 4.6, add themselves to the issues already identified and further support the BSAC recommendation to revise the MAP in order for it to allow for a more adaptive management in the following years. The BSAC welcomes the upcoming report on the implementation of the MAP planned by the European Commission in 2024 and stands ready for further discussions on this issue.
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Response to Sustainable fishing in the EU: state of play and orientations for 2024

29 Aug 2023

INTRODUCTION The BSAC takes note of the Commissions Communication and accompanying Staff Working Document. The BSAC provides feedback and comments following the Commissions request. On 7th July 2023, the BSAC has already sent its recommendation for the fishery in the Baltic Sea in 2024 to the Commission . In the document attached, the BSAC covers the following topics: 1. Progress on sustainable fishing 2. Setting fishing opportunities 3. State of the fleet and economic performance 4. Landing obligation 5. Main messages and orientations for 2024 fishing opportunities proposals CONCLUSION The BSAC supports the overall objective by the Commission on the need to protect resources. At the same time, the BSAC draws attention to the need to ensure food supplies and sustainable revenue for EU fishers.
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Response to Detailed rules on selective devices in the Baltic Sea

7 Jul 2023

The Baltic Sea Advisory Council (BSAC) has had a long focus on the Technical Measures Regulation 2019/1241 and any initiative that can result in by-catch reduction, specifically for the Baltic cod stocks. The BSAC repeatedly appealed for more selective gears being deployed in the Baltic, and for faster approval processes . The BSAC had at several occasions pointed to the need for the correct formulation and interpretation of the rules on technical measures concerning gear designs and the need to consult the Delegated and Implementing Acts to Technical Measures Regulation 2019/1241 with the fisheries sector. In order to allow for the introduction of new, fit for purpose gears, the BSAC had called on the European Commission and BALTFISH to provide a platform for discussion of and finalisation of the draft Implementing Act, making it available to a BSAC Focus Group . The BSAC now reiterates this call, because a short 4-week consultation period does not allow to gather all the BSAC knowledge and experience needed to comment on these complex texts. Moreover, early engagement with the stakeholders can prevent later delays because of unanticipated issues with the legal proposal. The BSAC fisheries members anticipate serious technical problems related to the mandatory use of the new gears, especially on small vessels (see Annex 1). The BSAC finds the description of the new gears overly specific, leaving no room for small, but potentially necessary adaptions to the number and placement of e.g. floats and sinks. The BSAC recommends to the Commission that while the introduction of new gears is not delayed, the technical problems anticipated with the introduction of the new gears have to be resolved first. The urgency of the situation is highlighted by the BSAC members who also see the consequences of the current by-catch rates leading the Commission to propose lower TAC for plaice. The BSAC therefore recommends to the Commission to modify the legal texts in order to open up the possibility to use the new gears while postponing their mandatory use by at least one year. Research and development of these new gears took place in specific areas of the Baltic and now needs to be extended to other areas and fleets. This additional necessary time should be used to collect data and adapt the gears to different areas and to different vessels. The BSAC recommends the Commission to ask STECF, when assessing a new gear, to evaluate not only the improvements in cod by-catch rates but also the practical operationality of gears on vessels of all fleet segments. The description of the new gears in the legal texts might need to be less specific and give room for small, but potentially necessary adaptations. One example is the need to provide flexibility on the number and placement of floats and sinks. While BSAC representatives of the fisheries have already said that a one-size-fits-all solution is not the solution and that they find it difficult to accept changes introduced on a compulsory basis, OIG representatives have underlined that new gears should be made compulsory. The BSAC recommends that if the new gears are made mandatory, the cost of the shift to new gears should be covered by support funding, during the transition period. The expected cost of two to three thousand Euros per gear would be an extra expense that many small enterprises will find difficult to cover, in particular bearing in mind the current limited catch opportunities. Funding should also be used for monitoring the impacts and functionality of the new gear in co-operation between fisheries and research institutes. The Commission signalled that it would adopt at the same time the Delegated and Implementing Acts. Because of the reasons explained above, BSAC members are anxious that their recommendations are followed and appeal to the decision-makers to take on board their on-deck experience. Annex 1: see attached file
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Meeting with Charlina Vitcheva (Director-General Maritime Affairs and Fisheries) and MEDAC and

19 Jan 2022 · Inter-Advisory Councils meeting - opening statement

Response to Policy Statement 2022

25 Aug 2021

Please find attached a reply from the Baltic Sea Advisory Council (BSAC). The feedback letter is signed by the BSAC Executive Committee Chair, on behalf of the BSAC. The BSAC comprises organisations which represent the fisheries as well as other interest groups affected by the CFP.
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Meeting with Charlina Vitcheva (Director-General Maritime Affairs and Fisheries) and MEDAC and

5 May 2021 · Inter-Advisory Councils meeting - discussion on key policy developments and functioning of the Advisory Councils

Meeting with Charlina Vitcheva (Director-General Maritime Affairs and Fisheries) and MEDAC and

18 Jan 2021 · Joint inter-Advisory Councils meeting - discussion on key policy developments and priorities

Meeting with Charlina Vitcheva (Director-General Maritime Affairs and Fisheries)

5 Oct 2020 · Discussion on BSAC’s recommendations for the Baltic FO 2021, as well as the functioning of and membership of the Advisory Councils