The Baltic herring has received increasing attention in Sweden over the past few years. Coastal fishers report alarmingly low levels of herring in areas such as the Stockholm archipelago. Last year an iconic producer of fermented herring (surströmming) closed down due to the lack of large herring in the Gulf of Bothnia.

Three of the four stocks of Baltic herring are in seriously weakened condition. They have declined or stagnated over the past 20 years. Based on the scientific advice, the European Commission proposed a closure of targeted fishing on them for 2024.

But the Gulf of Riga herring appears to be in much better shape. This stock has increased during the past 20 years. The Commission proposed a continuation of targeted fisheries there, albeit at a 20% lower level in 2024 than the Council of Ministers approved for 2023 (which was a result of the new perception of the stock status after the recent benchmark assessment).

In the event, in its decision October 24th, the Council cut the quotas for the Bothnian herring by 31%, the central Baltic herring by 43% and the Gulf of Riga herring by 17%, in all cases lower cuts than those proposed by the Commission.

Why is the Gulf of Riga herring in better shape than the herring in the rest of the Baltic? Is it management or the environment – or both? Are there any lessons to be learned for management of other stocks? What are the future prospects?

Those are some of the questions we will be asking at the next Baltic Breakfast.

To find out more about the management and condition of this herring stock we have invited two researchers who have studied and written about the Gulf of Riga herring.

Speakers:

Ivars Putnis, Researcher at the Institute of Food Safety, Animal Health and Environment (BIOR) in Latvia

Olavi Kaljuste, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Analyst at the Department of Aquatic Resources; Population analysis, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU-Aqua).

Moderator: Charles Berkow, Policy Analyst, Stockholm University Baltic Sea Centre

Practical information

The seminar will be held on Wednesday 15 November 2023, 8:30 – 9:15 am, at Scandic Klara, Slöjdgatan 7 in Stockholm. Breakfast will be served from 8:00 am.

Physical participation requires registration before 13 November.

Register for physical participation

The seminar will also be livestreamed at this webpage and at su.se/balticseacentre/balticbreakfast. Please do not register if you intend to follow the seminar digitally. The seminar will be recorded and can be watched afterwards at this same webpage.

About Baltic Breakfast

Baltic Breakfast is a series of short breakfast seminars/webinars organised by Stockholm University Baltic Sea Centre. Their aim is to present the latest knowledge about issues of central importance to the Baltic Sea environment. The webinars are addressed to people in different sectors working for a sustainable development in the Baltic Sea region and everyone interested in environmental issues of the Baltic Sea.

Most Baltic Breakfasts are held in Swedish, but sometimes they are targeted at an international audience and held in English. If you want to get invitations to the upcoming webinars or subscribe to our monthly newsletters, click here.