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November 5, 2026

Newsletter

The European Post

Policy • Diplomacy • strategic insight

LATEST
Importers Count Down To EU Deforestation Regulation DateFactories Slow As Euro Area Industrial Production DropsCircular Economy Act Slips A Week As Textile Makers PushDAC Recast Would Fold Nine Tax Cooperation Directives Into OneThird-Country Satellites Face EU Space Act Certification HurdleMexico Signature Gives EU-Mexico Agreement Its First Real TestGulf Partnership Stalls as the EU-GCC Summit Loses Its New DateIndonesia Trade Agreement Targets 2027 Start For Palm Oil And TextilesMercosur Agreement Waits On Court As Farm Fears PersistSouth Korea Summit Adds Defence And Digital Trade PillarsCouncil Receives EU India Trade Deal With €4 Billion SavingsInfringement Procedures Hit Ten Year High In Commission ReviewGreen Claims Directive Withdrawn After Three Years Of StalemateEU Customs Reform Puts Parcel Handling Fee On 1 November ClockEuro Area Inflation Hits 4.0 percent In October As Energy Costs Jump 20.8 percentBaltic Sea Fishing Opportunities Rise For Herring And Sprat In 2027Brussels Convenes Ukraine Reconstruction Talks Before Abu Dhabi RoundBeijing Consensus Points Leave EU China Trade Talks Short On DetailEhler Compromise Reshapes European Competitiveness FundRescuers Gather At European Civil Protection Forum 2026Importers Count Down To EU Deforestation Regulation DateFactories Slow As Euro Area Industrial Production DropsCircular Economy Act Slips A Week As Textile Makers PushDAC Recast Would Fold Nine Tax Cooperation Directives Into OneThird-Country Satellites Face EU Space Act Certification HurdleMexico Signature Gives EU-Mexico Agreement Its First Real TestGulf Partnership Stalls as the EU-GCC Summit Loses Its New DateIndonesia Trade Agreement Targets 2027 Start For Palm Oil And TextilesMercosur Agreement Waits On Court As Farm Fears PersistSouth Korea Summit Adds Defence And Digital Trade PillarsCouncil Receives EU India Trade Deal With €4 Billion SavingsInfringement Procedures Hit Ten Year High In Commission ReviewGreen Claims Directive Withdrawn After Three Years Of StalemateEU Customs Reform Puts Parcel Handling Fee On 1 November ClockEuro Area Inflation Hits 4.0 percent In October As Energy Costs Jump 20.8 percentBaltic Sea Fishing Opportunities Rise For Herring And Sprat In 2027Brussels Convenes Ukraine Reconstruction Talks Before Abu Dhabi RoundBeijing Consensus Points Leave EU China Trade Talks Short On DetailEhler Compromise Reshapes European Competitiveness FundRescuers Gather At European Civil Protection Forum 2026

Baltic Sea Fishing Quotas For 2027 Cut Cod And Raise Herring Limits

Tómas Garðarsson
Policy Monitor, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries

Riga: The Baltic Sea fishing quotas for 2027 will cut by-catch limits for cod sharply while raising several herring and sprat limits, if ministers follow the European Commission’s proposal. The Commission set out total allowable catches for ten fish stocks managed by the EU in the Baltic, based on ICES scientific advice and on the Baltic multiannual plan adopted in 2016.

The increases are large for some stocks. The proposal lifts the limit for Central Baltic herring by 49% and for sprat by 44%, with Gulf of Riga herring up 11% and Bothnian herring up 3%. Sprat is set at the maximum recommended level, and the Gulf of Riga herring limit also follows the maximum ICES recommendation because that stock is in good condition.

Cod faces the opposite treatment in the Baltic Sea fishing quotas. The proposal reduces the unavoidable by-catch limit for Western Baltic cod by 88% and for Eastern Baltic cod by 51%, using the by-catch volumes that member states reported for 2025. Western Baltic herring falls by 45%, and the Commission wants to scrap the exemption for small-scale coastal fishing because the stock sits significantly below the minimum level.

Several limits stay put. Plaice remains unchanged even though scientific advice pointed to a slight increase, since other stocks are in poor condition. Salmon in the main basin and the Gulf of Finland also stays unchanged because ICES published no new advice for 2027, although the Commission would end recreational fishing for farmed salmon.

Closures continue under the Baltic Sea fishing quotas. Bothnian herring and Central Baltic herring have improved but remain below sustainable levels, so a three-month ban on spawning in shallow coastal waters and in spawning areas stays in place. The three-month closure of sprat spawning areas ends.

The wider picture is sombre. A June 2026 Commission assessment found that key commercial stocks remain under pressure in the Baltic and the Western Mediterranean, and that fish stocks are falling in the North-East Atlantic. The EU fleet counts about 69,000 vessels and supports more than 155,200 people in coastal communities.

The Council aimed for political agreement in October, with formal adoption in November, and ministers meet again in December on the other regional proposals. The sources reviewed do not confirm the October outcome, so readers should check the Council’s records. The Baltic Sea fishing quotas will show whether herring and sprat fishers gain while cod fleets absorb the cost, and whether the recovery claimed for some stocks holds.

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