Copy
View this email in your browser                               
 
Share Share
Tweet Tweet
Forward Forward

In this edition:
What is the Recfishing forum?
The Forum on Recreational Fisheries and Aquatic Environment has been established to help the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) understand what can be complex issues affecting some 25 million European angling constituents. The European Parliament deals with important legislation which has a direct impact on fish stocks and the aquatic environment.
Recreational anglers urge the EU to step up support for climate change adaptation and mitigation measures 

On 7 September, the RecFishing Forum hosted a webinar on the impacts of climate change on recreational fisheries, co-chaired by MEP Franc Bogovič and MEP Niclas Herbst. Panellists and participants discussed the different impacts of climate change on both the freshwater and marine ecosystems. As one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss, climate change needs to be researched and addressed to find win-win solutions involving protecting, restoring and sustainably managing ecosystems to build resilience.  

Olivier Portrat, EFTTA CEO, David Mitchell, Chair of the EAA Sea Subgroup and Igor Miličić, Secretary General of the Fishing Association of Slovenia, called on the EU and Member States to support anglers’ and angling clubs’ habitat restoration projects as well as projects linking restoration or restocking activities and angling tourism.  

 Click here to know more about the event (agenda, panellists’ presentations, press release).  
Click here to read the event report
A look at the German Baltic Sea anglers

It is no secret that anglers are dedicated to their passion. Some of them are even ready to travel thousands of kilometres for rare fish species. A recent study of the Thünen Institute of Baltic Sea Fisheries confirmed that assumption. It looked at the German Baltic Sea anglers’ travel distances and the correlation with fisheries management and coastal spatial planning.  
 
 64% of the surveyed anglers travelled more than 100 km. On average, anglers travel 214 km. This clearly indicates that the German Baltic Sea coast continuously attracts anglers from all over Germany. 
 
Interestingly, by looking at a wide array of factors, the researchers found out that the travel distances were partly influenced by fisheries management. They noted that “managers should consider the importance of different fisheries for attracting resident and non-resident anglers when planning stakeholder participation and evaluating or predicting the outcome of management actions.”  
Click here to find out more
Council adopts 2022 TACs for the Baltic Sea

Based on the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) advices and on the Commission’s proposal, the EU’s fisheries ministers adopted the total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas for the ten most commercially important fish stocks in the Baltic Sea. In particular, the ministers decided to set the following TACs: 

  • Eastern Baltic cod: 595 tonnes by-catch only (same as for 2021); 

  • Western Herring: 788 tonnes by-catch only (-50% compared to 2021); 

  • Riga Herring: 47,697 tonnes (+21% compared to 2021); 

  • Central Herring: 53,653 tonnes (-45% compared to 2021); and 

  • Gulf of Bothnia Herring: 111,345 tonnes (+71% compared to 2021). 

Given the dire situation of the Western Baltic cod, the Council set a by-catch TAC for commercial fisheries (489 tonnes) as well as restrictions to recreational fishing, with a bag limit of one cod per day. The situation of the Baltic salmon is no better, meaning that the ministers took a similar decision for this stock: commercial TAC of 63,811 salmon (-32% compared to 2021) with a newly introduced bag limit for anglers (one fin-clipped salmon per day). 

This goes broadly in the direction of the anglers’ position, who understand that the stocks need to recover to sustainable levels, although anglers advocated for stronger measures to protect the stocks, such as the obligation to use selective gear to reduce by-catches of cod in commercial fisheries. 
Seabass fishing in 2022: recreational anglers’ recommendations
 

Now that the necessary scientific advice for 2022 has been published by the ICES, the EU and the UK are starting their consultations to agree on the TACs for shared stocks. The consultations will cover a wide range of fish species, including the seabass, an iconic species for recreational anglers in Europe.

The ICES  catch recommendation for seabass advised that total removals for recreational catches should be no more than 583 tonnes.

Based on this scientific advice, EAA and EFTTA are advocating for a bag limit of 3 specimen per day between March and December 2022 for recreational fishers. As in previous years, the sector calls for a harmonised minimum conservation reference size (MCRS) of 42 cm as well as harmonised closed season in both southern and northern waters.  

EAA and EFTTA also call on the EU and UK fisheries managers to target the lower level of removals of 1,859 tonnes recommended by ICES and not 2,216 tonnes, so that the stock will grow in 2022, not shrink.   
EVENT - The Final Sprint for Europe’s Rivers - 26 October

The Living Rivers Europe, a coalition of six environmental and angling organisations (EAA, WWF, EEB, ERN, The Nature Conservancy and Wetlands International), invites you to the launch of the second edition of its report  

“The Final Sprint for Europe’s Rivers” 
Tuesday 26 October (09:00-10:00 CET) 
Online 
 
Europe’s rivers are under threat, with 60% of Europe’s rivers in poor ecological health, unsustainable water use in agriculture, and alarming biodiversity decline. Is Europe really on track to return its fresh waters to health by 2027 as the Water Framework Directive requires? 
 
Member States have only a few months left to finalise their river basin management plans for the next six years. Join the event to hear about the analysis of 21 drafts of River Basin Management Plans in 11 EU Member States. Guest speakers will share their conclusions and the necessary actions to ensure the final sprint towards the 2027 deadline is successful. 
Registration
Subscribe to the newsletter
And if you would like more reading, you can find all the Recfishing forum's newsletters on our website.
Fish
Copyright © 2020 RecFishing Forum, All rights reserved.

The Forum Secretariat is provided by two EU associations:
 
EAA, the European Anglers Alliance        
EFTTA, the European Fishing Tackle Trade Association

Contact us:
Tél:   +32 (0) 2 720 0073
Email: julie@eaa-europe.eu

Twitter: @RecFishingEP






This email was sent to <<Email Address>>
why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences
EP RecFishing Forum · Rue Montoyer 31 · Brussels 1000 · Belgium

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp