The European Anglers Alliance (EAA), representing the interests of Europe’s recreational fisheries sector, welcomes today’s vote in the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries (PECH) on the own-initiative report “The multiannual plan for the Baltic Sea and ways forward” (2024/2127(INI)).
The adoption of the report and its compromise amendments by the PECH Committee of the European Parliament is a key step in addressing the Baltic Sea’s critical environmental situation.
The EAA believes that it sends a clear political signal on the urgency to act through coordinated, science-based measures. The Baltic Sea continues to face severe challenges, including declining fish stocks and deteriorating water quality – which must be tackled urgently.
The EAA supports the adopted report as a constructive and necessary basis for action.
It reflects key priorities consistently highlighted by our organisation, including the need for sustainable fisheries management, and recognises the socio-economic value of recreational fisheries, our contribution to restoration efforts, and our role as legitimate users of marine biological resources, confirming the place of the Recreational Fisheries sector as a key stakeholder in the Baltic ecosystem.
It also includes important measures to protect Atlantic salmon and address cormorant predation affecting fish stocks – which were key priorities for the EAA in this file.
At the same time, the EAA stresses that measures affecting recreational fisheries must remain proportionate and carefully designed. Recreational fisheries differ fundamentally from commercial fisheries in both scale and impact. Tools such as bag limits, size limits, and catch-and-release practices can deliver effective conservation outcomes while minimising socio-economic consequences for coastal and rural communities.
“Today’s adoption by PECH Committee members of the draft INI report is a welcome step forward and the EAA explicitly supports the report’s overall direction and stand ready to contribute to its implementation. We now hope for swift adoption in the plenary session of the European Parliament later this year” says Markus Lundgren, Chair of the EAA’s Sea Subgroup.
The EAA now calls for a swift endorsement of the report in plenary and reiterates its commitment to working with EU institutions and stakeholders to ensure effective and sustainable solutions for the recovery of the Baltic Sea.
Sources & further reading
Procedure File: 2024/2127(INI) | Legislative Observatory | European Parliament
Positive EU decision: Opens for review of the management of the Baltic Sea – Sportfiskarna
