Total marine fisheries extractions by country in the Baltic Sea

Catch ( t x 10 5 )
4 Total marine fisheries extractions by country in the Baltic Sea: 1950-present, Rossing, Booth and Zeller
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
Herring
Others
Flatfish
Sprat
Cod
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Year
Figure 2. Unreported landings (t) estimated for cod,
herring, sprat, flatfish and 'others' for the Baltic Sea
from 1950-2007.
Our results indicated that unreported landings were the
greatest source of IUU catches. This highlighted
significant management and enforcement issues,
especially as related to unreported landings of cod,
herring and sprat taken mainly by Denmark, Poland and
Sweden. Unreported landings by all countries added
14% to officiallyreported landings for the entire period,
and about 24% per year (i.e., 189,000 t∙year -1 ) since
2000. Unreported landings of cod were the most
substantial, representing about 35% of unreported
landings of all species since 2000 (Figure 2). A main
contributor appears to have been unreported activities
in Poland (see below). For 2000-2007, our
reconstruction estimated that Poland was accountable
for approximately 74% of all unreported landings of cod in the Baltic Sea. Unreported landings of herring
by all countries were also significant, more recently (2000-2007) accounting for 33% per year of the
unreported landings of all taxa (Figure 2).
Discards were also important. Overall, they added about 10% to reported landings. Denmark was found to
be responsible for the majority of discards between 1950-2007, accounting for approximately 31% per year
of total discards, while Germany, Poland and Sweden accounted for approximately 13% each. Discards
were dominated by cod and herring, accounting for around 36% and 31% of total discards, respectively
(1950-2007). More recently (2000-2007) cod accounted on average for 16% of total discards per year.
Discards of flatfishes were also of concern as flatfish discards added 36% to the reported landings of
flatfishes between 1950-2007. Since 2000, this has increased to 54%.
Recreational catches totaled approximately 1.5 million tonnes (29,000 t∙year -1 since 2000) and comprised
about 3% of our total catch reconstruction. Of the main commercial species, cod was the most important
recreational target, accounting for 29% of all recreational catches since 2000, while generally noncommercial
species such as European perch, Northern pike, whitefishes and sea trout accounted for 49%
of recreational catches.
Adjustments to the ICES landings statistics, dealing solely with accounting problems and omissions of
officially-reported data, added about 3% to ICES reported landings. The majority of these adjustments
were country-specific accounting artifacts due to the dissolution of the USSR (see individual reports on
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia), rather than substantial missing data.
National highlights for 2000-2007:
Denmark: The reconstructed catches were on average 33% higher than reported landings. Cod, herring
and sprat accounted for nearly 70% of the difference between reported landings and total catch.
Unreported landings and discards were the two biggest IUU components, accounting for 11% and 9% per
year. An average discard rate of 43% made flatfishes the most underreported group, relative to flatfish
reported landings.
Estonia: The reconstructed catches were 25% higher than reported landings. Herring and sprat
dominated Estonia‘s catches, accounting for 92% of the difference between reported landings and
reconstructed total catches. While cod catches were small compared to other countries, cod were still
underreported by around 100% relative to ICES reported landing. Herring and sprat accounted for 96% of
the estimated total discards. For recent years, Estonia had good publicly-available data regarding discard
and recreational catches.
Finland: The reconstructed total of 135,000 t∙year -1 was 24% higher than the reported landings. Herring
and sprat accounted for over 90% of the difference between reported landings and reconstructed total
catches, as cod is of minor importance in Finland. Credit must be given to Finland‘s inclusion of
recreational catches in the country‘s official landings statistics back to 1950.
Germany: The reconstructed catches were 29% higher than reported landings. Cod, sprat and herring
made up 81% of the difference between reported landings and reconstructed total catches. While flatfishes
only represented around 7% of the total reconstructed catch, they accounted for 28% of total discards.
Recreational cod catches were significant, equivalent to 19% of reconstructed cod catches.