(BRUSSELS) - The European Commission called on Monday for cuts in catches of cod and salmon in the icy Baltic Sea as stocks dwindle due to overfishing.

The European Union's executive recommended slashing 2008 EU quota for eastern Baltic cod by 23 percent to 31,561 tonnes and cutting the limit on western Baltic cod by 33 percent to 17,930 tonnes.

Alarmed at signs young salmon are struggling in the Baltic, the Commission also proposed a 15 percent cut in Baltic salmon catches to 364,400 individual fish in 2008.

"The condition of the two cod stocks continue to give serious cause for concern, with the Western stock ... having again fallen outside safe biological limits," the Commission warned in a statement.

"Scientists have also advised that the survival rate of young salmon is deteriorating, and that there is a need to restrain catches compared to current levels," it added.

Despite worrying developments for Baltic cod and salmon, the Commission said that central Baltic stocks of herring, a much-appreciated delicacy in the region, were in good shape.

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