Commissie voor akkoord met Rusland over visserij in Baltische Zee (en)

anchor("Heading7") Today the European Commission tabled a proposal for a Council Regulation adopting the new bilateral agreement between the European Union and the Russian Federation on co-operation in fisheries and the conservation of the living marine resources in the Baltic Sea. This new agreement, which covers an initial period of six years, sets out provisions on joint management measures for Baltic Sea fisheries. A new framework became necessary as, following the 2004 EU enlargement, the membership of the International Baltic Sea Fisheries Commission was reduced to two Contracting Parties: the EU and Russia. The new agreement was initialled in August this year and will enter into force upon signature by the Parties.

Joe Borg i, European Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, said: "This agreement will provide the necessary framework that will allow the EU and Russia to continue their co-operation on fisheries management in the Baltic Sea. It will also help strengthen their partnership in curbing illegal fishing activities in the Baltic and beyond."

The objective of the new agreement is to provide a framework for close co-operation between the Parties so as to ensure the conservation and sustainable exploitation and management of fish stocks in the Baltic Sea. It provides for the setting up of joint management measures for straddling stocks on the basis of scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), while allowing each party to take autonomous management measures for non-straddling stocks in their waters. These measures may include TACs (total allowable catches), long-term management plans, restrictions on fishing effort and technical measures.

The new agreement will set out provisions on joint management measures for Baltic sea fish stocks, vessel licensing, compliance with fisheries regulations, co-operation for control and enforcement, inspections and scientific co-operation. Under this agreement EU and Russian vessels will be allowed to fish within each other's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Baltic Sea. The agreement also allows for quota swaps on a reciprocal basis.

The EU and Russia undertake to cooperate fully in the control of fishing activities and enforcement of fisheries rules. To this end, they will exchange control and enforcement strategies and will allow inspections of their vessels to be carried out by the authorities of the other Party within their respective EEZs. They will also establish mechanisms for scientific co-operation within the framework of ICES and encourage closer collaboration between scientists and experts on fisheries issues of mutual interest, including in the field of aquaculture.

To achieve the objectives of the agreement, a Joint Baltic Sea Fisheries Committee will be established. It will meet at least once a year.

Hitherto, fisheries relations with Russia for the Baltic Sea were conducted within the International Baltic Sea Fisheries Commission (IBSFC), the Regional Fishery Organisation responsible for the management of fisheries in that area. The IBSFC, of which the European Community has been a member since 1983, was established by the Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living Resources in the Baltic Sea and the Belts of 1973, the so-called Gdansk Convention.

The Commission fixed and allocated annual fishing possibilities for cod, salmon, herring and sprat as well as technical conservation measures for these fisheries. There were also historic bilateral agreements which remained in force between Russia and six of the Baltic coastal states, including the four new Member States which joined the European Union on 1 May 2004 namely, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, as well as Sweden and Finland. Following enlargement, the EU and the four new Member States withdrew from the Gdansk Convention, leaving Russia as the only Member.

Both the EU and Russia therefore agreed that there was a need to establish a new bilateral framework for co-operation on fisheries in the Baltic Sea replacing both the IBSFC and elements of the existing bilateral agreements.