Sign our Call to Action

Help us Save Cod in the Baltic Sea

Call To Action (PDF):

Baltic cod is in crisis and it needs us to save it. Decades of overfishing coupled with pollution of its natural habitat have driven populations to an all-time low. What’s needed is decisive action to curb the downward spiral and allow cod to recover.

Cod was the most important fish in the Baltic sea, both from an ecological and a economical perspective. It is the top predator in the Baltic ecosystem, regulating all species that fall below it and it fed a profitable fishery for centuries. But more than that, cod is part of Baltic culture. Whether it is a fish that families fished for or a favourite dish at Christmas, cod has been part of culture around the Baltic Sea. Right now, we stand to lose this important fish unless we act now to save it.

That is why we ask the European Commission and all member states to choose for the return of the cod when they decide on fishing opportunities for 2023 in October and:

Advocate for setting fishing limits for cod in line with the best available science

Deduct a sufficiently large precautionary buffer from the TAC to do justice to the ecosystem role of cod

Request that any rebuilding measures for cod are accompanied by adequate monitoring and control measures that ensure uptake of measures can be verified

We believe that this year will be a crucial year for Baltic cod as it might be the last chance for this iconic species.

Sign our call to action and support us using your photos:

Help us #SaveBalticCod: send us your photo!

Take a photo of yourself or a picture of the Baltic Sea.
Crop the photo to a square and edit your photo using one of our stickers
OR print out the #SaveBalticCod PDF on paper and take a picture of yourself holding it.
Fill in the form below and upload your picture(s).
Alternatively you can upload just the photo and we add the sticker

Signing our Call to Action without uploading pictures also helps!

We will continuously add photos to the gallery, keep in mind that it might take a few days before your photo shows up. Please send us an email at info@fishsec.org if you need help.

Thank you for your support!

stickers:

PDF:

The petition is now closed. We would like to thank everyone who signed our call to action and contributed with photos!

On October 17th, EU decision makers decided on a precautionary approach in the management of cod in the Baltic Sea.

Thanks to you we managed this crucial step in the road to #SaveBalticCod. Not only are all directed fisheries for both Eastern and Western Baltic cod prohibited but the quota for flatfish was set lower to reduce bycatch of cod in that fishery.

Unfortunately, the Baltic countries chose to set the quota for sprat and herring in the Central Baltic higher than we wanted. These small fish are an essential food source for cod and in order to protect the Baltic food web, enough sprat and herring need to be left for cod to forage on.

Warm greetings, the Return of the Cod and #SaveBalticCod team