Total marine fisheries extractions by country in the Baltic Sea

Total marine fisheries extractions by country in the Baltic Sea: 1950-present, Rossing, Booth and Zeller 227
North Sea fishing. As a consequence they increased their fishing in the Baltic Sea (Anon., 2005a; Lövin,
2007). This happened when herring stocks appeared high, the cod was about to reach a peak biomass, and
the government subsidized fisheries (Anon., 2005a; Lövin, 2007). Together, these circumstances created
the foundation for a buildup of overcapacity in the Swedish fishing fleet in the Baltic Sea (Anon., 2005a;
Lövin, 2007), which is an underlying driving force of IUU fishing (Hultkrantz, 1997; Sporrong, 2007).
Sweden covers much of the west side of the Baltic Sea (Figure 1), and has a diverse small-scale fishery
along its coast (Gårdmark et al., 2004). The small-scale fishery has often been combined with other
employment, such as industrial, agricultural or forestry work (Johansson et al., 2005). In the northern
part of Sweden (ICES subdivision 30 and 31; Figure 1), herring has been the most important species for
this small-scale fishery, and it was mainly caught with traps and nets (Johansson et al., 2005). In the
1960s, smaller trawlers showed up that fished for herring during the ice free season in the north, and
during the winter further south in the Baltic (Johansson et al., 2005). Salmon (Salmo salar), sea trout
(Salmo trutta), whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus), and vendace (Coregonus albula), as well as some
freshwater/brackish species such as northern pike (Esox lucius) and European perch (Perca fluviatilis) are
other targeted species (Johansson et. al., 2005). In ICES subdivision 31 (Figure 1), fishing for vendace roe
with pair trawlers has been an important commercial fishing activity (Johansson et al., 2005). Along the
southern east coast of Sweden, i.e., ICES subdivision 27 and northern part of 25 (Figure 1), the small-scale
fishery target herring, whitefish, pike, perch, salmon, eel (Anguilla anguilla), and some marine species,
such as flounder (Platichthys flesus) and cod (Anon. 2005a). In the southern part of ICES subdivision 25
and in 23 (Figure 1), cod is by far the most important species for the small-scale fishery and it is mainly
caught with gillnets. The decline in landings of cod in the 1990s did not change the importance of cod, as
this was offset by increased price (Anon., 2002). Other targeted species are herring, sprat, salmon, and eel
(Anon., 2002).
Between 1945 and 1970, the number of commercial fishers decreased from 16,000 to 5,200 (Anon., 1978),
due to manpower requirements for national industrialization and increased effectiveness of fisheries
enforced by decreased profitability (Johansson et al., 2005). The decrease has continued and today 1,880
people are registered as commercial fishers in Sweden. In reality, there are more people involved in fishing
operations since only the fishing boat‘s skipper has to be registered.
Recreational fishing (non commercial fishing)
The waters along the Swedish coast are either private or public. The waters out to 300 m from shore are
private, and so are waters in bays and inside straits that are less than 600 m wide (Bruckmeier and Höj
Larsen, 2008). However, north of Stockholm these inshore waters‘ fishing rights have been public since
the 1950s due to governmental ownership. In public waters, every Swedish citizen is allowed to fish with
hand gear and a restricted number of other gears, such as traps and gillnets (Anon., 1993). In private
waters the basic right to fish belongs to the property owner. However, other people can fish with hand gear
and in some areas also with other gears (Anon., 2007a). There are some exceptions, for example, fishing
for salmon with gears other than hand gear is only allowed for property owners north of Stockholm even
though the fishing rights are public (Anon., 2007a), and since 2007 a special license is required to fish for
eel. Recreational fishing includes household consumption fishing, as well as sport fishing that is done
entirely for recreational purposes. Between 1947 and 1975, a tenfold increase of recreational fishers
occurred, from 200,000 to 2 million (Anon., 1978), and one reason for the rise was an increase in leisure
time (A. Paulrud, pers. comm., Swedish Board of Fisheries). The number of recreational fishers is believed
to have stayed about the same until the 1990s (Nilsson, 1991), when it increased throughout the 1990s
(Norström et al., 2000). Subsequently, however, a decline has been documented, and in 2006 the number
of recreational fishers was estimated at 1 million (Anon., 2007a).
The aim of the present study is to present a reconstruction of likely total catches by Swedish fishers in the
Baltic Sea from 1950-2007, including estimates of all types of IUU, such as unreported landings, discards
and recreational catches.
METHODS
Collection of Swedish fishery statistics started early with annual statistics available since 1913 (Lundgren
2007). Swedish fisheries data are presented as catch (live weight) and landings (dressed weight) in tonnes.
Here, Swedish catch data are defined as ‗landings‘ to differentiate it from ‗catch‘, which in this study refers
to all catches taken from the Baltic Sea, i.e., including unreported landings, discards, and recreational