Riga: EU fisheries ministers met in Luxembourg on 26 October 2026, with a second day reserved for 27 October, to settle Baltic Sea fishing quotas for 2027, and the Commission’s proposal would raise central Baltic herring by 49 percent and sprat by 44 percent. The sources available when this report was filed did not show the final outcome.

Martin Heydon, Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, chaired the Agriculture and Fisheries Council. According to the Danish government’s Lovguiden summary of the Council agenda, the Baltic item came first after the routine items. The Council aims for political agreement, with formal adoption later in November.

The regulation on Baltic Sea fishing quotas sets catch limits for ten EU-managed stocks: Bothnian herring, central Baltic herring, Gulf of Riga herring, sprat, plaice, Main Basin salmon, Gulf of Finland salmon, western and eastern Baltic cod, and western Baltic herring. The Commission proposes smaller increases for Bothnian herring at 3 percent and Gulf of Riga herring at 11 percent. It leaves plaice and both salmon stocks unchanged.

Plaice shows how the Commission weighs advice. Scientists at ICES recommended a slight increase, yet the Commission proposes an unchanged limit because of the poor condition of individual fish. ICES published no new salmon advice for 2027, which also helps explain the flat salmon proposal. Fishers, processors and environmental groups will watch how ministers treat that scientific advice before they sign off the final catch limits.

The proposal on Baltic Sea fishing quotas cuts allocations for unavoidable by-catch sharply. Western Baltic cod would fall 88 percent, eastern Baltic cod 51 percent and western Baltic herring 45 percent. For western Baltic herring, the Commission also wants to remove the exemption for small-scale coastal fisheries and set the limit to cover unavoidable by-catch only.

Seasonal rules change as well. A three-month spawning closure in shallow coastal waters would continue for Bothnian and central Baltic herring, but the Commission proposes to discontinue the sprat spawning closure. It also proposes to end recreational fishing on reared salmon. The Commission bases its Baltic Sea fishing quotas on ICES advice and the Baltic multiannual management plan adopted in 2016.

Ministers also had fisheries simplification and the sensitivity of fishery products in trade negotiations on their agenda. A separate proposal covers the Mediterranean and Black Sea: the Brussels Times reported on 18 September that the Commission keeps the 2026 Black Sea sprat limit and expects ministers to seek agreement at the Fisheries Council on 14 and 15 December 2026.

For fishing communities around the Baltic, the 2027 package splits the sector. Herring and sprat crews gain room to fish, while operators who depend on cod by-catch and coastal herring face tighter rules. Once the Council publishes its final text, the Baltic Sea fishing quotas will apply from 1 January 2027 and set the baseline for coastal fleets next year.