The European Union will likely miss its 2030 marine protection targets, the European Court of Auditors warned on Monday, as EU ministers set next year’s Baltic Sea fishing quotas without deeper cuts.
The auditors found that while 14% of EU waters are designated as marine protected areas, less than 1% are under strict protection, leaving ecosystems vulnerable to damaging fishing practices. The EU aims to protect 30% of its marine waters by 2030, with 10% under strict protection, but the report states that current measures lack the necessary restrictions to make protection effective .
On the same day, the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council agreed on 2027 catch limits for the Baltic Sea, including herring, cod, plaice, sprat, and salmon. The deal maintains existing by-catch limits for western and eastern cod and western herring, despite their poor stock conditions, and increases quotas for central Baltic herring by 71% and sprat by 44% .
Poland opposed the European Commission’s proposal to cut by-catch limits for western cod by 88%, eastern cod by 51%, and western herring by 45%. The final agreement kept these limits at 2026 levels, with a total of 266 tonnes for western cod, 430 tonnes for eastern cod, and 788 tonnes for western herring by-catches .
The auditors called for stricter enforcement, better funding, and greater cooperation between the Commission and member states to turn designated areas into effective protection. Iliana Ivanova of the European Court of Auditors said, “The EU has made some progress in designating marine protected areas, but our audit shows that the true challenge is turning designation into actual protection” .
The Council will formally adopt the fishing quotas decision once the text is translated into all EU languages.
