Russia undermines EU efforts to restore Baltic fish stocks, ministers warn

5 months ago 12

EU countries slammed Russia for overfishing in the Baltic Sea, a region that has seen its fish stocks decline dramatically in recent years, during a meeting of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council (AGRIFISH) on Monday (24 June).

In a discussion proposed by Lithuania and supported by Estonia, Latvia, and Sweden, the ad-hoc coalition stressed that Russia’s fishing of cod, herring, and sprat in the Baltic Sea conflicts with EU efforts to restore dwindling fish stocks.

“Such extremely unsustainable fishing activities in the Baltic Sea are undermining our joint efforts to rebuild the biological resources of this sea basin in line with scientific advice,” stated a document circulated by Lithuania ahead of the discussions.

Fish stocks in the Baltic Sea are depleted due to unsustainable fishing practices and other threats, such as eutrophication—the excessive growth of algae typically caused by an excess of fertilisers in the water—and the inflow of toxic substances from industrial activities.

As part of the efforts to protect sea environment, Sweden – one of the largest fishing nations in the Baltic – recently banned bottom trawling, a method involving dragging heavy nets over the seabed, which damages ecosystems and releases carbon into the oceans.

The dire situation in the Baltic has also led to EU restrictions on capturing four out of ten fish species for several years, including a five-year ban on eastern Baltic cod fisheries to restore commercial fish stocks.

However, the four countries emphasised that the EU will not achieve its sustainable fisheries objectives if Moscow continues to target herring, cod, and sprat.

“Russia’s unacceptable actions in the Baltic Sea further complicate the already difficult situation in these waters,” said Lithuania’s Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Kęstutis Navickas, noting that these products are being sold in the EU’s single market.

Navickas said Lithuania has already banned fishery products imported from Russia and Belarus and called for similar action at the EU level.

“Access to the EU single market is a powerful tool. We call for a complete halt to the bloody imports of fishery products from the aggressor country into the EU,” said Navickas.

EU Oceans Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius said the idea of rising import tariffs on Russian fish products—a measure similar to the one adopted for Russian grain—was not supported by national delegations during the latest discussion.

He explained that all member states must agree to such a move.

France’s deputy EU ambassador Cyril Piquemal said products that do not come from sustainable fisheries “should not be exported to the EU market, whether directly from Russia or via third countries”.

Portuguese Agriculture Minister José Manuel Fernandes stressed it was important that “the Commission gives high importance to this subject. The Baltic countries need to be supported, and we have to protect the single market”.

However, other countries were more cautious. Polish Agriculture Minister Czesław Siekierski warned that any further restrictions on Russian fishing product imports should be introduced carefully, and after consulting the sector, due to their importance for the EU’s processing industry.

[Edited by Angelo Di Mambro and Zoran Radosavljevic]