During Friday, representatives from the municipality of Simrishamn and local fishing companies - in association with Karlskrona municipality - went to Sölvesborg for a crisis meeting. This is because all herring fishing in the Baltic Sea is stopped for four months, according to a decision by EU fisheries ministers.

"We three municipalities that are affected must meet and agree on a way forward," says Sölvesborg's business manager Stefan Olofsson to TT.

The purpose of the fishing peak is to protect the threatened Baltic cod during the game period, but it is a decision that was sawn. According to the critics, the halted fishing does not take place in the cod's play area, and in addition, the herring fishing provides many jobs during the summer.

Jobs can disappear

Project manager Vesa Tschernij at the municipal-run Marine Center in Simrishamn feels worried about the local fishing industry and says there is a risk that jobs will disappear.

- Yes. I do not know how to handle the situation during the four months. Summer is a high season and 40 percent of sales come from the herring sacks, she says.

Requires compensation

According to business manager Stefan Olofsson in Sölvesborg, the fishing stoppage affects around eight local dishes as well as just over 15 local fishing companies who prepare fish and handle catches.

Today's crisis meeting is likely to result in a letter addressed to both the government and Brussels, according to Olofsson. And if the herring stop becomes a reality starting already in May, some form of compensation is needed, he believes.

- Yes, it is at least important to find an economic solution so that the fishery can live on.

The stop applies to all fishing from the southern coast of Skåne up to the height of Öland.