WRITTEN QUESTION E-3938/97 by Heidi Hautala (V) to the Commission (12 December 1997)

Subject: Protection of wild salmon in the Baltic Sea

According to a statement by the Finnish game and fish industry's research institute, the breeding rate of native Baltic salmon in the River Tornio was greater in 1996 than for 30 years. The researchers consider that these favourable figures are the result of restrictions on drift-net fishing in the Baltic Sea. This trend may, however, be reversed unexpectedly for many reasons, and a high breeding rate therefore needs to be sustained for five to eight consecutive years.

A working party of the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has proposed a relaxation of the restrictions, inter alia by bringing forward by two weeks the opening of the sea-fishing season, and a move to catch quotas for individual vessels, removing the time-limits altogether. Fish migration experts consider that this would be disastrous for wild salmon. What view will the Commission be putting forward in the Baltic Fisheries Commission? The Council of Fisheries Ministers has decided to put a stop to drift-net fishing elsewhere than in the Baltic. What measures does the Commission propose to take to halt drift-net fishing in the Baltic Sea?

Answer given by Mrs Bonino on behalf of the Commission (28 January 1998)

The Commission would point out that the information from the Finnish research institute for game and fisheries on the sharp increase of offspring of wild salmon has not yet been endorsed by the International council for the exploration of the sea (ICES), but similar information has been received from reliable scientific sources in Sweden, where wild salmon rivers are more abundant than in Finland.

This positive trend indicates that the gradual reductions of the total allowable catches (TAC) for salmon, recommended by the International Baltic sea fishery commission (IBSFC), seem to give the desired results. The reductions of the TAC during four consecutive years to almost half of the level of 1993 have a direct effect on the level of catches of wild salmon in a mixed wild-reared fishery. More wild salmon can escape and return to their home rivers to spawn.

The IBSFC salmon action plan (SAP) which was adopted in early 1997 aims to reinforce the effect of reduced TACs, by inviting coastal states to take additional national measures such as time or area closures outside the IBSFC convention area and in inland waters. The SAP also sets clear objectives and strategies to rebuild wild salmon stocks, on a river by river basis, to at least 50% of the production capacity of each river or river system. As the Honourable Member points out, this objective can only be reached over a 10 year time period, given the life cycle of salmon.

The IBSFC has recommended for 1998 a total salmon ban in the convention area from 15 June 1998 to 30 September 1998. This is a minimum requirement for the contracting parties. The Commission has also received preliminary information from Finland on intentions to adopt national measures for 1998 -in addition to the IBSFC summer ban- to protect wild salmon during its spawning migration. The Commission believes that the combined effect of reduced fishing pressure in the Central Baltic, the general summer ban and additional local measures will contribute to achieve the overall goal of the SAP by 2010.

As regards the precise question put forward by the Honourable Member, the Commission would point out that individual wild salmon will also be caught with other gear than driftnets, such as long lines, trap nets or ordinary nets. The ban on driftnets will therefore not eliminate the unavoidable catches of wild specimens which are intermixed with salmon of reared origin during their feeding migration.

The discussion on the appropriateness of driftnet fishing is exclusively linked to possible bycatches of birds and mammals. According to recurring statements by ICES, such bycatches are minimal in the Baltic Sea.