1. Page 5 Sea Around Us – November/December 2008
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Dumb as a cod:
Fisheries in the Baltic Sea
by Peter Rossing and Dirk Zeller
H
istoricchroniclesfrom
the monk Saxo in the
12th
centurysuggestthat
theoarsfromfishingboats
would get stuck in large schools
ofherringduringtheirmigration
throughtheSoundofDenmark.
Theabundanceofherringwas
suchthattheycouldbecaught
withbarehandsandliterally
shoveledintobarrels
(Grammaticus,1980).
Herringwasahighlyvalued
exportcommodity,andwasan
importantpartofpeople’sdiet
during Catholic fast. Cities like
CopenhagenandLübeck,ifnot
foundedonherring,drewmuch
of their early wealth from the
sale of Baltic Sea herring, and of
their control of the salt required
forpreservation(Grammaticus,
1980). The historic importance
of fishing in the Baltic Sea is such
thatmanymetaphorscommonly
used today relate to fish. In
Danish,somethingworthlessis
‘not worth five sour herrings’,a
beautifulwomanisa‘delicious
herring’,andifsomebodycalls
you‘dumb as a cod’you have
likely done something of the
lowest intelligence. A major
newspaper even has the‘new
year cod prize’ that is given to the
politicianwhomadethebiggest
blunderduringtheyear.
Ironically,thisappreciationofcod
is a fitting description for how the
management of the fisheries
resources in the Baltic Sea has
goneawry. Theonceabundant
cod is now at risk of stock
collapseastheBalticcountries
(Denmark,Sweden,Germany,
Poland,Russia,
Lithuania,Estonia,
LatviaandFinland)
continueto
sidestepandignore
International
Council for the
Explorationofthe
Sea’s (ICES)
scientific
recommendations
for a complete
moratorium,
becausetheycannot
agree on terms
(WWF,2008). Other species also
in trouble are eel, which have
gonenearlycommerciallyextinct,
andsalmon,whichnowcontain
so much dioxin that fish over 4.4
kg are deemed unfit for human
consumption(Lövin,2007).
Eutrophicationisalsoasubstantial
problem as the Baltic Sea is now
regularlyhitbymassivetoxic
bloomsofblue-greenalgaeand
by anoxic events which leave
large areas lifeless during the
summer season (ELME, 2007).
ASwedishbusinessman,Björn
Carlson, decided in 2006 to
activelycontributetoreversing
thesedisastrousdevelopments
by setting up the Baltic Sea 2020
Foundation(www.balticsea
2020.org). His 500 million SEK
(US$60million)persondonation
representsthesinglelargest
ever made in Sweden. The
entire capital is to be used by
2020, hence the name of the
foundation. The aim is to
stimulateconcretemeasuresto
improvetheenvironmental
qualityoftheBalticSea.
The SeaAroundUs Project is
contributingtotheworkofthe
BalticSea2020Foundationby
reconstructingtotalcatchtime
series for all Baltic countries
from 1950. Only the landings
from commercial fisheries have
traditionallybeenreportedfrom
theBalticcountries,and
incompletely atthat. Itis
therefore widely recognized
thattheregion’sofficialstatistics
underestimatetruecatch
(althoughformalstock
assessmentsdoaccount
conservativelyfordiscarding),as
theydonottakeintoaccount
Illegal,Unreportedand
Unregulated(IUU)catches.
Policy makers have therefore
historicallyunderestimatedthe
impactoffishingonstocks,and
hence on the decline seen in
some of the Baltic fisheries.
Our work, when completed in
April 2009, will provide a better
baselineforanalyzinglong-term
trendsbygoingbeyondwhatis
officiallyreportedbytheBaltic
countries’governments(and
hence ICES) from 1950 to the
present.
Thebasicapproachto,and
philosophybehind,catch
reconstructionsisdescribedin
The once
abundant cod
is now at risk of
stock collapse
as the Baltic
countries
continue to
sidestep and
ignore ICES
recommen-
dations.Magnus, Olaus. (1555) Historia de Gentibus
Septentrionalibus. Description of the Northern
Peoples. Image obtained with thanks from Callum
Roberts, University of York, UK
This article
was published
in the Sea
Around Us
newsletter
Vol. 50.

2. Page 6Sea Around Us – November/December 2008
Baltic - Continued from page 5Baltic - Continued from page 5Baltic - Continued from page 5Baltic - Continued from page 5Baltic - Continued from page 5
Zeller et al. (2006; 2007). In
essence, we utilize every data-
andinformation-sourceavailable
tous(includinggreyliterature,
mediasourcesandexpert
knowledge)toobtaindata
‘anchorpoints’intimeregarding
nominalandIUUcatches
(includingrecreational),aswell
as discards. We have also
endeavoredtoestablish
collaborationswithlocalin-
countryexpertsintheBaltic
region,aslocalinput,knowledge
andexperienceareparticularly
valuableinhelpingusto
developreasonabledatatime
series. Therefore,Peter Rossing
has been busy over the last 8
monthsestablishingand
nurturing,relationshipswith
scientistsintheBalticregionthat
shareaninterestincollaborating
with us. We have successfully
establishedcollaborationsin
Sweden,Finland,Germany,
Russia,LithuaniaandLatvia,and
have been able to get access to
materialandsourcesfrom
Poland. As a Dane, it has been a
particularprivilegeforPeterto
travelaroundtheBalticregion.
Generally,ourrequestfor
collaborationandadvicehas
been well-received, as most
people appreciate the relevance
of what we are trying to achieve.
Thegoodwillandinformation
generated from these meetings
andcollaborationscannotbe
underestimated.
However,asubstantialproblem
hasbeenthepoliticalsensitivity
overaccesstoexistingspatially
disaggregateddiscardandillegal
catchdata,despitethefactthat
mostgovernmentinstitutionsin
the Baltic and ICES have access
tosuchdata.ICES,forexample,
utilizessuchdiscarddatato
improvetheiryearlystock
assessmentsandfisheriesadvice
totheEuropeanUnion.
However,they are under
considerablepoliticalpressure
nottodisclosethecountry-
specificdisaggregateddata,as
Balticcountrygovernments
wouldbeembarrassedif
singled-outasamajorculpritof
illegalactivities,orforwasting
resourcesbythrowingdeadfish
backintothesea.
Peter found another example of
how politics can interfere with
the common good when he
visitedtheInstituteforBalticSea
FisheriesinRostock,Germany.
Since2004,thisinstitutehas
beenconductingextensive
recreationalcatchsurveys.This
apparentlybenignproject
becameapoliticalhotpotato
whentheresultsindicatedthat
currentGermancodcatches
would be 50% higher if
recreational catches were
included. Initially,theGerman
governmentwantedtoclose
down the project, however the
resultshadalreadybeen
published.Instead,theGerman
governmentisnowpossibly
facedwiththeuncomfortable
situationofmakinganinformed
decisionabouthowtodivide
theirtotalcodquotabetween
therecreationalandcommercial
fishingsectors.Itisamazing,
givensuchshenanigans,that
there are still cod left in the
Baltic.DumbCod!
ReferencesReferencesReferencesReferencesReferences
ELME.2007.BalticSea.pp.8-13
inLangmead,O.,Lowe,C.,
andMcQuatters-Gollop,A.
(Eds).EuropeanLifestylesand
MarineEcosystems-
Exploringchallengesfor
managing Europe’sseas.
UniversityofPlymouth
MarineInstitute,Plymouth,
UK.
Grammaticus,S.1980.The
historyoftheDanes.D.S.
Brewer,Woodbridge,Suffolk,
UK, 528 p.
ICES. 2007. Report of the Baltic
FisheriesAssesmentWorking
Group(WGBFAS).ICES
Copenhagen, 1-750 p.
Lövin,I.2007.Tyst hav - jakten på
densistamatfisken.Ordfront,
Stockholm,200p.
WWF.2008.A sustainable future
for Baltic Sea Cod and Cod
fisheries.WWFBaltic
Ecoregion programme 24 p.
Zeller,D.,Booth,S.,Craig,P.and
Pauly,D.2006.
Reconstruction of coral reef
fisheries catches in
AmericanSamoa,1950-
2002. Coral Reefs 25: 144-
152.
Zeller,D.,Booth,S.,Davis,G.and
Pauly,D.2007.Re-estimation
of small-scale fisheries
catchesforU.S.flagisland
areas in the Western Pacific:
The last 50 years. Fisheries
Bulletin 105:
266-277.
There are approximately 100 fish species living in the Baltic Sea
RegioncomprisingDenmark,Sweden,Germany,Poland,Russia,
Lithuania,Estonia,LatviaandFinland.Thefishfaunainclude
marine(e.g.,cod,flatfish,sprat,herring),anadromous(e.g.,
Atlanticsalmon,andSeatrout)catadromous(e.g.,Europeaneel)
and fresh water species (e.g.,pike and perch).The diversity,
compositionanddistributionoftheBalticfishfaunais
influenced by the brackish-water and enclosed nature of the
Baltic Sea.The number of marine species is therefore highest in
areasneartheDanishStraitsanddiminisheseastwardsand
northwardsassalinitydecreases.Thecatchesofcod,herring
andsprathas,inrecenttimes,accountedforapproximately95%
of the reported commercial catches in the Baltic (ICES, 2007).
The Baltic Sea