Coastal fishermen report dramatically smaller herring catches in the Baltic Sea

Fishermen fishing close to the shore in the Baltic Sea have seen a steady decline in herring and Baltic herring catches over many years, but the drop is dramatic in the past 2-3 years, they say.

The development has also been noted by the National Agency for Marine and Water Management.

Large-scale trawling further out at sea could be one of the reasons behind it, and to establish whether this is the case, researchers will now run a project where the trawling limit is moved further out at sea in some areas and for a limited time.