The European Anglers Alliance has adopted two new position statements on recreational fishing for Western Baltic cod and for Atlantic salmon in the Baltic Sea in 2027.
Western Baltic cod
The position statement was written by three EAA members that have a particular interest regarding fishing opportunities for Cod in the Western Baltic Sea: Deutscher Angelfischerverband e.V. (Germany), Sportfiskarna (Sweden) and Sportfiskerforbund (Denmark).
Download the EAA position paper here
The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) published its catch recommendations for western Baltic cod (Gadus morhua) on 28 May 2025 for the years 2026 and the identical advice for 2027 on 4 February 2026. Current scientific information shows that the western Baltic cod stock suffers from both environmental factors affecting reproductive success, a previous history of overfishing and that selective commercial fishing gears that could reduce bycatch of small cod have not yet been utilised.
Within the framework of the EU management plan, ICES has recommended zero catch for cod in the western Baltic Sea for 2026 and 2027.
The European Anglers Alliance suggests the following regulations and actions concerning Baltic cod for 2027:
- Recreational fishing opportunities for cod must be preserved.
- Consider a combination of management measures that ensures equivalent protection at simultaneous higher anglers’ satisfaction: introduce a maximum landing size for anglers, increase the minimum landing size and combine both with seasonal closures and bag limits; intensify the dialogue between the interest groups, science, and politics.
- No dedicated fishing activities on spawning cod.
- Improvement and obligatory use of selective gear to reduce bycatch of cod in commercial fisheries is urgently needed.
- Adoption of the Framework towards development of a European Management Plan for the Great Cormorant to reduce the impact of cormorant predation on cod stocks
Baltic salmon
The position statement was written by four EAA members that have a particular interest regarding fishing opportunities for Atlantic Salmon in the Baltic Sea: Deutscher Angelfischerverband e.V. (Germany), Sportfiskarna (Sweden), Sportfiskerforbund (Denmark) and Suomen Vapaa-Ajankalastajat (Finland).
Download the EAA position paper here
The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) published its catch recommendations for Atlantic salmon5 (Salmo salar) in the Baltic Sea (SD´s 22-31) for the year 2027 on the 29th of May 2026. The advice was originally published in May 2025, and ICES has evaluated this advice and confirms that it conforms to the ICES standard of providing advice based on the best available science to decision makers. ICES considers it suitable to inform management actions and it remains valid for 2027.
To protect the weak stocks in Assessment Unit (AU) 5 ICES recommends that there should be no salmon catch outside of SDs 29N–31. ICES advises that if spatial-temporal management can be implemented, some fishing opportunities would be possible.
ICES considers that if sea fishing can be confined to existing coastal fisheries during the spawning migration (beginning of May to the end of August) in the Gulf of Bothnia and the Åland Sea, total at sea catch (both commercial and recreational) in these areas of no more than 30 000 salmon could be taken.
The European Anglers Alliance suggests the following regulations and actions concerning Baltic Salmon for 2027:
- It is essential to maintain recreational angling opportunities for Atlantic Salmon in the Baltic Sea.
- Recreational trolling north of 59.30 N should be subject to member state regulation and not be unnecessarily regulated by a 4 nautical mile boundary.
- Take into account that ICES acknowledges that most of the catch-and-release (C&R) salmon in recreational trolling survive when discarded.
- Regulations demanding landing of whole un-filleted fish should only be for salmonids (salmon and sea trout), not for other species such as pike, perch and pikeperch.
- Utilise more EMFAF funding for the removal of fish migration barriers in the rivers.
- An ecosystem-based and adaptive management plan for salmon must be adopted.
- Adoption of the Framework towards development of a European Management Plan for the Great Cormorant1 to reduce the impact of cormorant predation on salmon stocks.
