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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Trade Deal With €4 Billion SavingsInfringement Procedures Hit Ten Year High In Commission ReviewGreen Claims Directive Withdrawn After Three Years Of StalemateEU Customs Reform Puts Parcel Handling Fee On 1 November ClockEuro Area Inflation Hits 4.0 percent In October As Energy Costs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Trade Deal With €4 Billion SavingsInfringement Procedures Hit Ten Year High In Commission ReviewGreen Claims Directive Withdrawn After Three Years Of StalemateEU Customs Reform Puts Parcel Handling Fee On 1 November ClockEuro Area Inflation Hits 4.0 percent In October As Energy Costs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 Pair Herring Gains With Cod Cuts

Tómas Garðarsson
Policy Monitor, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries

Luxembourg: Baltic Sea fishing quotas for 2027 were on the table when EU agriculture and fisheries ministers met in Luxembourg on 26 October 2026, with the Council aiming for political agreement on the Commission proposal. Ministers could continue on 27 October if talks ran long, and the Council expects to adopt the regulation formally in November. The sources reviewed for this article do not report the outcome, so the figures below remain the Commission proposal.

The Commission tabled the proposal in late August for ten fish stocks, drawing on advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea and on the Baltic multiannual management plan that Parliament and the Council adopted in 2016. The Baltic Sea fishing quotas package splits sharply between recovering and struggling stocks. Total allowable catches would rise by 3% for Bothnian herring, 49% for central Baltic herring, 11% for Gulf of Riga herring and 44% for sprat, while plaice and salmon would stay unchanged.

The Baltic Sea fishing quotas cut hardest where stocks are in the worst shape. The Commission proposes to cut the by-catch-only limit for western Baltic cod by 88%, for eastern Baltic cod by 51% and for western Baltic herring by 45%. Western Baltic herring sits significantly below its minimum level, so the proposal also removes the exemption that small-scale coastal fisheries enjoyed. The Commission keeps its existing cod measures because, in its own assessment, they have not improved the situation since its 2019 warning on the stock.

The herring gains come with strings attached. Bothnian and central Baltic herring remain below sustainable levels, so the three-month spawning closure in shallow coastal waters continues for both. Sprat is fished at the maximum recommended level, and the Commission proposes to end its spawning closure. For plaice, scientific advice points to a slight increase, yet the Commission keeps the quota flat because individual fish are in poor condition.

Salmon follows a different logic. ICES issued no new advice for 2027, so the Baltic Sea fishing quotas for salmon in the Main Basin and the Gulf of Finland and their conditions stay as they are. The one change is an end to recreational fishing for reared salmon, which closes a loophole that the Commission wants shut.

Fishing communities will read the proposal differently depending on their port. Herring and sprat fleets in the central Baltic and the Gulf of Riga gain room to fish, while coastal fishers in the west lose an exemption they relied on. Irish Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon chaired the Luxembourg meeting and needed a compromise that ministers from both groups could accept.

The decision on Baltic Sea fishing quotas will show whether ministers follow the scientific advice or soften the cuts. A deal in line with the Commission would give fleets certainty from 1 January 2027, while any delay would leave them waiting. Whatever the final numbers, the Baltic Sea fishing quotas for 2027 will test whether the EU can reward recovering herring stocks while protecting the cod that has not recovered.

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