WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3938/97 by Heidi HAUTALA to the Commission. Protection of wild salmon in the Baltic Sea
Date: 1997-12-12
Institutions: European Parliament, HAUTALA
Subjects: Baltic Sea, authorised catch, catch by species, fishing net, fishing rights, protection of animal life, sea fish, sea fishing

C 196/38

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

22. 6. 98

(98/C 196/53)

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(cid:146)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.