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TACs for Western Baltic Cod and Western Baltic Herring are too high to stop overfishing of those species, says Oceana, the international ocean conservation organisation.
Oceana maintains five other species, for which scientists had given advice to maintain or reduce catches, remain without TACs for another year.
Last Friday, the European Union's fisheries Ministers met in Luxembourg at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council session to set the 2012 fishing Total Allowable Catches (TAC) for the Baltic Sea. Oceana, the international marine conservation organisation is disappointed that the decisions for 2012 fall short of what is needed to end overfishing in the Baltic and is asking Ministers to adopt national management measures to end overfishing and especially for all currently unmanaged Baltic fish stocks.
“We believe that decisions on the TACs are too weak to turn the tide for the troubled Baltic fish stocks,” commented Oceana Baltic Sea Project Manager Anne Schroeer. “Scientific advice has been ignored for two out of five species, quota increases for western Baltic cod and herring stocks are wrong in the case of cod and risky for herring, as both stocks are still not fished at a sustainable level and worst of all, the vast majority of Baltic fish stocks remain for another year without a TAC- contradicting the precautionary approach.”
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