Displaying items by tag: Baltic

A small sea with big problems

This article was featured in EUROFISH Magazine 1 / 2021.

The fishing industry in the Baltic Sea region has long and rich traditions. As early as the Middle Ages, it was one of the most important economic and social activities, and it experienced an unprecedented boom during Hanseatic times. The fishers of today can only dream of such times. Drastic reductions in catch quotas are endangering the existence of many businesses and their future is at risk. What are the causes behind this fatal development?

This article was featured in EUROFISH Magazine 5 / 2020.

As in other countries the pandemic’s impact on the hotel, restaurant, and catering sector was brutal. Producers of canned fish products, an important part of the Latvian processing industry, however experienced an uptick in demand as consumers took to stockpiling shelf stable goods and those with long expiry dates in the early days of the virus’ spread. The canning sector forms an important part of the Latvian fish processing sector with a tradition that goes back over a century. Today there are a handful of large companies that are the main producers and exporters of canned products down from some 20 firms a couple of decades ago. These companies belong to the Union of Latvian Fish Processing Industry, an association that decides the criteria behind the label Riga sprats in oil, which the companies use to market their canned sprats. The raw material for this well-known product, exports of which go around the world, comes from the Baltic Sea. The canning industry faced a crisis in 2015 when Russia embargoed canned products from Latvia. Since Russia was the single most important market for several producers this development contributed to the restructuring and consolidation among canned fish producers. Since then canneries have expanded their export markets mainly to the EU, but also to other countries such as Canada, Japan, and the US. Processing facilities are certified to EU standards, but also to other international standards such as International Featured Standards (IFS), British Retail Consortium (BRC), or GOST (for Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries). Cans account for only part of the output from the processing sector, other products include smoked, salted, and preserved fish. According to the 2019 STECF report on the EU fish processing sector, Latvian processors are active importers and exporters of fish and seafood. Data from the Central Statistics Bureau of Latvia show that exports of processed fish products increased steadily in value from 2016 to reach EUR93m in 2019, a growth of 42% over the period, while volumes increased by 17%.On the other hand, the export value of fresh, chilled or frozen fish declined 11% to EUR73m. Raw materials, other than those available from Latvia’s Baltic Sea catches, are supplied by other countries. Imports of chilled or frozen fish between 2016 and 2019 increased 2% in value to EUR128m, while the volume actually fell 4% to 64,000 tonnes. The main trading partners for supply of raw material are Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland.

Low quotas over several years due to a critical decline in cod and herring stocks challenge both commercial and recreational fisheries financially with declining revenues and fewer angler tourists fishing for cod. Representatives from the business community, the research establishment, municipalities, green organisations, and politicians are being gathered by the Danish government to lay the groundwork for an action plan for future fisheries in the Baltic Sea. Although fishing pressure has eased considerably since 2000 and quotas are the lowest in many years, cod and herring stocks in the Baltic have declined to the point where the future of fishing in the Baltic Sea is uncertain.

The European Commission has adopted a proposal offering support from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund to fishermen affected by the closure of the Eastern Baltic cod fishery to permanently decommission their fishing vessels. Cod fisheries is important in the Eastern Baltic Sea, but the stock is in very poor shape. At the Council meeting in mid-October, fisheries ministers agreed on a Commission proposal to reduce fishing possibilities in 2020 to almost zero. While this step is necessary to give the stock a chance to recover, it also means severe and unavoidable economic hardship for the fleets and fishing communities traditionally fishing this stock.