Overview
- EU fisheries and agriculture ministers met in Luxembourg on Monday to negotiate 2027 Baltic total allowable catches and wider Common Agricultural Policy changes, and they agreed to preserve the existing small-boat/passive-gear exemption for western Baltic herring.
- The European Commission had proposed cutting the western herring allowance to 437 tonnes for 2027 and tightening cod bycatch limits because stocks have not recovered, but member states did not adopt those changes at the meeting.
- Germany’s Agriculture Minister Alois Rainer argued the exemption is needed to save small coastal fishing livelihoods and cited research from the Thünen Institute that says current small-boat catches have negligible effect on stock recovery.
- Conservation groups including NABU oppose the exemption and say every spawning tonne matters, while the Commission and ICES scientific advice continue to guide quota proposals for other species such as sprat and eastern herring where increases were suggested.
- Negotiations remain unresolved on final TACs and on CAP reform issues like payment caps and the definition of ‘active’ farmers, and talks could extend into the evening or the next day as ministers seek a compromise tied to the 2028–2034 EU budget.