Gdynia: The Baltic fishing quotas for 2027 will rise for sprat and herring but stay shut for cod, after EU ministers agreed the catch limits and the Council announced the deal on Monday 26 October 2026. The limits follow scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, and they also weigh environmental and socio-economic considerations.

Sprat gains the most among the headline stocks in the Baltic fishing quotas. The 2027 limit rises by 44 percent compared with 2026, in line with scientific advice and reflecting growth in the stock. Central Baltic herring climbs by 71 percent, although the Council says that figure still sits below the level scientists recommended. Ministers kept the three-month spawning-season closure for that herring stock in place, which tempers the size of the increase.

The other herring stocks move by smaller steps in the Baltic fishing quotas. The Gulf of Riga limit grows by 11 percent, a rise the Council links to the healthy condition of the stock, while the Bothnian herring limit grows by 12 percent. A three-month restriction on fishing during reproduction in shallow coastal waters continues for Bothnian herring. For Western Baltic herring, by-catch limits stay at their 2026 level and an exemption for small-scale fisheries remains. Plaice receives a modest increase of 3 percent.

Cod tells a very different story. For both the eastern and the western Baltic cod stocks, the limits remain at 2026 levels and allow by-catch only, because the stocks are in poor condition. Ministers also maintained the ban on recreational cod fishing across the whole area. Fleets that target herring and sprat must therefore keep avoiding cod, and the Baltic fishing quotas for 2027 offer no relief to anyone hoping for a directed cod fishery.

Salmon rules stay largely as they were. The limit for the Gulf of Finland remains at the 2026 level, and so do the by-catch limits for the main Baltic basin. A summer coastal fishery exemption continues in subdivisions 29 N, 30 and 31, and recreational anglers may keep only reared salmon. The Council announcement gives no percentage change for salmon, because the settings simply carry over from this year.

The decision is not final yet. The Council will formally adopt the text at a later meeting once lawyers have finalised it in all EU languages, and it has not announced a date. The Commission put forward its proposal for the 2027 limits in late August, so the Baltic fishing quotas agreement closes a process of about two months. Fishers and processors can plan around the figures now, although the legal act still has to follow.

The mix of gains and freezes shows how far scientific advice now drives the annual Baltic decisions. Growing sprat and herring stocks let ministers raise limits, while the poor state of cod keeps the door shut. For fishers, processors and regulators, the Baltic fishing quotas for 2027 set a clear plan for the season, and formal Council adoption will confirm it.