Jessika Roswall, in the centre, and EU Commissioner Costas Kadis, on the right, at the Baltic Sea Conference in Stockholm. Photo: European Commission
The European Commission has urged urgent and coordinated action to address the multiple environmental and fisheries crises facing the Baltic Sea, following the third edition of the Our Baltic Conference, held yesterday.
Ministers Confront Declining Stocks and Ecosystem Stress
The conference, hosted by Fisheries Commissioner Costas Kadis and Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall, brought together agriculture, fisheries and environment ministers from EU Baltic states, alongside MEPs and regional stakeholders.
Delegates focused on a combination of pressures that continue to undermine the Baltic Sea’s health: climate change, eutrophication, habitat destruction, pollution and misreporting of catches that may be contributing to overfishing. All were identified as interlinked drivers behind the collapse of fish stocks and the erosion of livelihoods in coastal communities.
Commissioner Kadis told the conference: “This conference has reaffirmed our commitment to the Baltic Sea. We are not willing to gamble with the future of our fishers or our ecosystems. An ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management is essential for accelerating recovery and ensuring long-term sustainability.”
Call for Stronger Science and Enforcement
The Commission said scientific institutes must be given more financial and human resources to generate robust evidence on which to base management decisions. It also highlighted the need to enforce existing EU legislation, particularly fisheries control rules, to prevent misreporting and to ensure accurate catch registration.
Legislative and Policy Measures
Several legal frameworks were highlighted as central to reversing the Baltic’s decline. These include revising the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, applying the Nature Restoration Regulation to restore marine habitats, and rolling out the EU’s Water Resilience Strategy and European Ocean Pact to promote sustainable blue economies.
Roswall said: “The environmental, economic, and security challenges facing the Baltic Sea are interconnected. Addressing them together is vital to the EU’s strategic autonomy and resilience. We have the tools to tackle these challenges, and now, we need to implement them.”
Tackling Eutrophication
Nutrient runoff, which drives eutrophication, was singled out as one of the most pressing problems. Ministers discussed the role of the Water Framework Directive and the revised Urban Wastewater Directive in reducing nutrient inputs and achieving a healthier marine environment.
Regional Cooperation
The conference also endorsed continued collaboration through the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM), which coordinates action at basin level. The Commission pledged continued financial support for HELCOM-led projects, particularly those focused on restoring coastal habitats.
Background and Previous Conferences
The Baltic Sea is Europe’s most polluted sea, affected by climate change, biodiversity loss, eutrophication and chemical contaminants, as well as widespread plastic litter. The basin is home to more than 85 million people.
At the second Our Baltic Conference in 2023, EU ministers pledged to tackle submerged munitions in the sea, supported by €2 million in EU funding for mapping unexploded ordnance. The first conference in 2020 committed ministers to joint action on overfishing, marine litter and pollution.
