The cod fishery in the Baltic Sea: unsustainable and illegal

The United Nations (UN) states that the main factors determining biodiversity loss in our oceans are overfishing and climate change. Cod is a case in point. Once so dense that fish could literally be scooped out of the sea, the majority of the cod stocks worldwide are now commercially extinct, or very close to it. This is true in the Baltic Sea, particularly for the eastern stock. The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES: the scientific advisory body for the northeastern Atlantic region) and the European Union (EU) are calling for a drastic reduction of quotas, or even for a cessation of cod fishing in waters of the eastern Baltic Sea.

Download Document