Overview

• ICES advises zero catch quotas for both western and eastern Baltic cod in the upcoming fishing year
• Western Baltic herring recovery lags severely under a zero quota recommendation while populations east of Bornholm could support a 26 percent catch increase
• Sprat stocks are rebounding strongly, prompting a 36 percent uplift to the catch limit
• Healthy plaice biomass masks poor fish condition that has led scientists to recommend a 3 percent quota reduction
• EU fisheries ministers will use these scientific recommendations as the basis for the next annual Baltic catch agreement