Raised EU cod quota beckons for battered Baltic fleet

(BRUSSELS) - Cod fishing quotas in the Baltic sea should rise as stocks return to the waters between Scandinavia and a trio of former Soviet EU members hard hit by recession, the European Commission said Thursday.

Thousands of extra tonnes of the fish will be made available to fleets in 2010 if a commission proposal based on scientific advice is accepted at a meeting of the European Union's fisheries ministers next month.

But one in five western herring will have to be left in the seas if a long-term slump in numbers is to have any chance of being reversed, according to a statement outlining plans which also took into account economic conditions.

Likewise, sprat and sea salmon tonnage must also be substantially reduced.

"We have paved the way for the comeback of Baltic cod by strictly applying the cod plan," said fisheries commissioner Joe Borg of a multi-year set of targets.

The commission wants to increase the legal EU catch for Baltic cod from 60,917 tonnes to 68,967 tonnes, amid evidence of a rise in the numbers of fish thrown away after being caught.

That is put down to a revival in species numbers. However, thanks to historic overfishing, new herring stocks for the year are "now merely a quarter of what they used to be," Borg warned.

International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)

Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee on Fisheries (STECF)