Total marine fisheries extractions by country in the Baltic Sea

52 Total marine fisheries extractions by country in the Baltic Sea: 1950-present, Rossing, Booth and Zeller
Although increases in cod abundance have not yet elevated stocks beyond historically low levels and are
insufficient for long-term sustainability, the European Commission has proposed raising the TAC for cod
by 15% in 2010 (Veem, 2009), which may further exacerbate the disequilibrium in the ecosystem of the
Baltic Sea, by keeping cod at low levels. The methods used in our catch reconstruction for Denmark in the
Baltic Sea used all the information that was accessible to the project to correct misreported catches and
estimate various forms of IUU. Apart from boat-based discards of flatfishes and whiting in Denmark
(which were found in nationally-sourced data), the majority of our estimates of IUU were derived from
Baltic-wide data presented in ICES stock assessment working group reports. Because some countries
report discards and unreported landings while others do not, it was impossible to know which countries
contributed to the amounts presented in ICES reports. Therefore, our derived rates were likely
underestimates, since our derived rates were weighted by reported landings from all Baltic nations (see
methods). Though ICES, as the scientific advising body, has access to more details with regards to IUU
fishing than we experienced, confidentiality agreements prevent the presentation of this data to the public
and general scientific community. Thus, our study, and more often the public‘s understanding of the
health of common fish stocks, is compromised by this lack in transparency of the total fisheries catches
and overall impacts on the Baltic marine ecosystem. In order to attain a management system based on
ecosystem principles, it will be necessary to have more complete baseline fisheries data, so all aspects of
the ecosystem can be assessed thoroughly to help ensure long-term sustainability.
One effort to encourage a cooperative environment emphasizing transparency in the Baltic has been the
requirement for Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) on all larger vessels. However, tampering with these
devices is not uncommon. When a vessel stops transmitting and tampering is likely to have occurred, the
vessel is often able to make unreported landings before being inspected. In order for VMS to be used to its
potential, adequate inspection and cross-checking is necessary. Another initiative has been electronic
logbooking. Denmark was one of the first countries to use this system in an effort to generate ‗real-time‘
report data complemented by a cross-check of records at the point of sale. However, in 2000-2002, the
European Commission found a loophole in the system, such that fishers and sellers coordinated the details
of their reports, allowing unreported landings to persist. This was documented to have occurred for both
cod landings in Bornholm and mackerel landings in Jutland (Anon., 2007c).
Currently, a major problem is that TACs are set too high. ICES provides scientific recommendations which
are often overridden by the governing body of concern (the European Commission for all countries fishing
in the Baltic Sea except Russia) due to immediate socio-economic concerns. Compliance with CFP
regulations is often low, in part because many fishers disagree with the research methods used by
scientists. Fishers also feel they have a better understanding of the natural fluctuations in fish stocks and
safe fishing quotas. Co-management of fisheries resources has been discussed widely, as fishers who play a
greater role within the decision-making processes are more likely to comply with fishing regulations. A
study by Haapasaari et al. (2007) presented assessment models to evaluate stakeholders‘ opinions,
perceptions, and the resulting behaviors, of various management measures to evaluate fishers‘ potential to
comply with fishing regulations, and the overall impact on fish stocks. Their results indicated that fishers
who have the opportunity to participate in management have enhanced commitment to sustainable
exploitation of fish stocks. The Baltic Sea has been noted as a fishing area with significant potential for a
cooperative management scheme, given the unique political and geographical circumstances of the region
(Veem et al., 2009). Total observer coverage would also contribute substantially to the transparency of
fishers‘ behaviors at sea, and reduce the likelihood of misreported landings (Branch, 2006).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to thank the Baltic Sea 2020 Foundation for funding this project. We would specifically like
to thank Henrik Degel, Josianne Støttrup, and Margit Eero of the National Institute of Aquatic Resources
(DTU Aqua) and Kaare Manniche Ebert of Sportsfiskerforbundet for providing valuable insight,
information and data. The Sea Around Us Project is a scientific collaboration between the University of
British Columbia and the Pew Environment Group.
REFERENCES
Anon. (1998) Lystfiskeri [Recreational Fishing]. Gallup Catibus, Copenhagen, 669 p.
Anon. (2004) Tough times ahead for the Danish fisheries. Eurofish magazine online.
http://www.eurofish.dk/indexSub.php?id=1806 [Date accessed: Mar 25, 2009].