• Scale: Demonstrates concern for the overall biodiversity of the Baltic Sea.
• Balance/Integration: Provides stakeholder input into the process of formulating management. 
• Collaboration: Provides a forum for stakeholders of varying backgrounds to reach consensus.

Mission

The mission of the Baltic Sea Regional Advisory Council is to prepare and provide advice on the management of Baltic Sea fisheries in order to achieve a successful running of the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy.

Lead Organization

• Baltic Fishermen’s Association

Key Parties

• Fishermen’s associations from member European Union states
• Representatives of producers
• Swedish Consumers’ Coalition
• Environmental organizations, such as WWF

The Baltic Sea Regional Advisory Council (RAC) functions through a General Assembly and Executive Committee, and has established three working groups. Administrative duties are handled by a two-person Secretariat based in Copenhagen.

General Assembly

Meeting at least once a year, the General Assembly, which currently has 39 members, includes representatives of organizations with a direct stake in the fisheries policy of the European Union. Two-thirds of the members represent varying sectors of the commercial fishing industry, such as associations of fishermen, producer organizations, and market organizations. Other members include environmental non-government organizations, aquaculture producers, consumers, and recreational and sports fishermen. The General Assembly approves an annual report and annual strategic plan of the RAC.

Executive Committee

Consisting of 24 members, with two-thirds representing varying aspects of the commercial fishing industry, the Executive Committee is appointed by the General Assembly. The Executive Committee manages the work of the RAC, adopts its recommendations, and develops the annual strategic plan. It meets when needed, typically twice or three times a year.

Working Groups

Three working groups, focused on demersal fisheries, pelagic fisheries, and salmon and trout, have been established to assist the Executive Committee in its task of preparing advice. Each working group has a chairperson, but no fixed membership. Working groups allow a wider range of people, including environmental specialists, scientists, fishermen, economists and others, to participate.

The Baltic Sea Regional Advisory Council was established because of concerns that fishery stocks were continuing to decline and the views of fishermen were not being considered in the development of fisheries policies in the European Union.

Fishing regulations had been developed through a collaborative process among member nations of the European Union for many years. Those nations believed the governance of the European Union would be the best vehicle for managing fisheries and defending their interests in international waters.

In 1983, the European Union signed the Treaty of Rome after difficult negotiations and created the first Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) for its members. (A bilateral agreement on fisheries management has been established between the European Union and Russia.) But stakeholders, especially fishermen, complained that administrators and scientists were not incorporating their views and knowledge into the CFP.

The Ecosystem

Despite its small size, the Baltic Sea is the second-largest body of brackish water after the Black Sea. The Baltic Sea’s unique ecosystem comes from this mixture of fresh and salt water, which is tolerated only by a select number of marine animals and plants. The Baltic Sea’s salinity is generally low and decreases to the north and east where rivers bring fresh water into the near-shore environment.

Nine nations nearly surround the Baltic Sea: Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Denmark and Russia. All of these countries are members of the European Union except Russia.

The Baltic Sea is connected to the Atlantic through the narrow straits of Denmark. It is composed of a series of sub-basins with varying biological characteristics. The catchment area of the Baltic Sea is home to 85 million people and its unique attributes make its ecosystem highly susceptible to strain from human activities.

Threats

The Helsinki Commission (HELCOM), an intergovernmental body composed of the Baltic Sea coastal states and the European Union, has identified the health of the Baltic Sea as being impaired.

HELCOM facilitates the implementation of the Convention of the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea. According to HELCOM, two key stressors to the ecosystem are:

• Eutrophication from an overabundance of nutrients. Despite significant progress in reducing nutrient inputs from agriculture, insufficient municipal wastewater treatment facilities, industry and poorly managed dump sites, excess nutrients continue to fuel the growth of algae that leads to the development of dead zones in which marine life cannot survive.
• Overfishing that has altered the balance of marine organisms. Overfishing has reduced the numbers of top predators. Cod is especially overexploited. Salmon reproduction capacity in Baltic rivers remains low. In 2007, for instance, the reported commercial catch of salmon was the lowest since 1980. Meanwhile, bottom trawling has damaged the sea floor.

Other stressors include hazardous and toxic substances and sediment entering the Baltic Sea from industry and agriculture and climate change.

The Baltic Sea Regional Advisory Council does not have a statutory mandate to evaluate the implementation of management plans or conduct scientific monitoring programs, but it has facilitated scientific conferences on matters of interest to stakeholders in the region.

Increased Sense of Ownership

The Baltic Sea Regional Advisory Council (RAC) has given fishermen a formal conduit for injecting their views into the management process of the fishery. Fishermen have demonstrated that fostering greater sustainability of the marine resources would be in their economic self interest.

Increased Sense of Trust

Fishermen and scientists are working more closely together through conversations facilitated by meetings and conferences of the RAC. The outcome could lead to more reliable fishing data and better scientific advice.

Increased Concern for the Marine Environment

The RAC has served as a vehicle for prioritizing stakeholder concerns for the marine environment. Discarded catch, fishing overcapacity, and gaps in enforcement have been identified through conferences facilitated by the RAC as among the most pressing concerns of Baltic Sea stakeholders, who may support new management initiatives to resolve those problems.

Baltic Sea Regional Advisory Council: http://www.bsrac.org

Helsinki Commission: http://www.helcom.fi/

European Commission Fisheries: http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/index_en.htm