Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Jari Leppä and Minister of the Environment of Estonia Marko Pomerants talk about Baltic Sea salmon

On Wednesday 24 May, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Jari Leppä met the Minister of the Environment of the Republic of Estonia Marko Pomerants. Among the topics discussed were fisheries and Baltic Sea salmon. After the meeting the Estonian delegation visited the Parliament, where they were heard by the Agriculture and Forestry Committee.

The main purpose of the visit was to discuss salmon fishery in the Gulf of Finland, the annual salmon quotas of the EU Member States in the Baltic Sea, and the EU’s multi-annual management plan for the Baltic salmon that is to steer the regulation of salmon fishing in the future.

– Finland and Estonia are strongly committed to the preparation of the management plan for the Baltic salmon. Finland leads the process in the Baltic Sea Fisheries Forum BALTFISH and Estonia aims to take the matter forward in the EU during its Presidency next autumn, says Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Jari Leppä.

Minister Pomerants told that Estonia has improved the status of its own salmon stocks in the Gulf of Finland by restoring breeding areas in wild salmon rivers, removing dams and increasing the control of fishing.
The ministers also had a preliminary discussion on the outlook for the Baltic Sea fishing quotas in 2018. The scientific consultations concerning these will be completed by the end of May and the Agriculture and Forestry Committee of the Finnish Parliament will discuss the matter in early June. The proposal for the Commission Regulation on the fishing quotas will be given in the beginning of September and the decisions on the quotas will be made at the October Agriculture and Fisheries Council.

Inquiries at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry:
Risto Lampinen, Fisheries Counsellor, risto.lampinen(at)mmm.fi, p. +358 295 162 458
Jukka-Pekka Kataja, Special Adviser to the Minister, jukka-pekka.kataja(at)mmm.fi, p. +358 295 162 476