As usual and as expected, it took a lot of time for EU countries' fisheries ministers to agree on the total catch quotas for the Baltic Sea in 2020.

Only after midnight were all the numbers in port.

- We have arrived at a result above expectation, in my opinion. I entered into the negotiations with the ambition that we would get results as close to the Commission proposal as possible. We did not land exactly there, which I did not expect, but the result is good, says the rural minister afterwards to TT.

Zero to the east

Cod fishing in the eastern Baltic Sea has been urgently halted this year due to concerns about the future of the fish. That stop will now continue next year, when only 2,000 tonnes of by-catch will be accepted. For the western parts of the Baltic Sea, Sweden and the European Commission had hoped for minus 68 percent, which was now slightly upgraded to minus 60.

- This is a good safety margin, Nilsson notes.

EU Fisheries Commissioner Karmenu Vella is also pleased.

- We have made some difficult, but very necessary decisions. Many fish stocks in the Baltic Sea are in an alarming position. There was a broad consensus around the table that if we do not deal with the root causes of this troubling situation, both nature and the fishing industry will be lost, says Vella at a nightly press conference in Luxembourg.

Control requirements are delayed

What the Ministers could not agree on was the new control requirements that the Commission wanted to introduce in order to better monitor what is really being addressed. Those demands and that discussion must now wait until later.

- They felt that they could not agree. The biggest reason for that, as I see it, was the short period that they had to release it in January, says Nilsson.

Overall, the Rural Minister is satisfied with the results.

- All proposals are within the scope of what has been the recommendations of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, with a view. So this is a good suggestion based on wanting to ensure sustainable fishing that will allow us to fish in our waters even in the future, says Jennie Nilsson in Luxembourg.