The ecosystem in the Baltic Sea is threatened and on the verge of tipping - the cod has been fished out and an extensive decline can be seen in herring and herring, Bolund emphasizes.

- The Baltic Sea is a unique sea area, it is a resource that gives us so much but which we are completely destroying.

We have a totally acute crisis, he says.

The Green Party (MP) wants to see a total stop for all industrial trawlers on Swedish waters, without the possibility of being able to grant exemptions.

This is something that Sweden can do on its own, according to the party.

In the next step, they want to see a ban on industrial fishing throughout the Baltic Sea and a decommissioning plan should be drawn up.

Such a ban existed until EU accession but ceased to apply in 1997.

Only on a large scale

According to the MP, the trawling ban will only apply to the large-scale fishmeal and oil industry and not to small-scale fishing for consumption.

Bolund mentions that only about twelve percent of the herring and sprat fished in Sweden go to food.

Fishmeal and oil are widely used in the mink industry and in salmon farms.

- It is not reasonable that we destroy our marine environment to make such an industry live for a while longer, he says about the mining industry.

The stop should take effect immediately, well in advance of the boats leaving this winter.

At the same time, the MP wants to establish a protected area of ​​the entire Baltic Sea, from the Gulf of Bothnia in the north to the Baltic Proper in the south.

The protection must remain until the ecosystem has recovered.

According to the party, an individual member state has the opportunity to ask the European Commission to carry out such an action.

Complains about S

At the same time, the MP accuses the Social Democrats (S) of having done too little for the fish stocks in the Swedish waters.

S has previously opposed moving the trawl border along the east coast to protect spawning herring and herring.

The Swedish Maritime Administration is now carrying out a project that corresponds to a relocation of the trawl boundary, but as I said, it is only a project, Bolund emphasizes.

- Unfortunately, it is the reality that we have encountered in negotiations many times, that the Social Democrats do not protect fish stocks and local fishing, but protect the fishing system.