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"Baltic 21" IntroductionFollowing the 1992 Rio Declarations, the Heads of State and the President of the European Commission, meeting in the framework of the Council of Baltic Sea States (CBSS), adopted in May 1996 the "Visby Declaration" starting the process for the adoption of a "Baltic Agenda 21". This political declaration is meant to include an "Action Programme" leading to Sustainable Development by the year 2030. Seven economic sectors are carefully analysed: agriculture, energy, fishery, forestry, industry, tourism and transport. The International Baltic Sea Fishery Commission (IBSFC) has been invited to draft the "Sector Report on Fisheries" (including coastal and inland waters) in close co-operation with the International Council for Exploration of the Sea (ICES) (a scientific organisation) and the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) (environmental organisation). The Sector Report has been drafted in accordance with the defined format and was formally adopted for publication during an "Extraordinary Session" in Warsaw, 16-20 February 1998. The main political message of the Sector Report is that Fisheries can be considered as "almost sustainable". The implementation of the precautionary approach will further improve to management of fisheries recources to ensure their sustainable exploitation. The environmental conditions in the Baltic Sea Region have a particularly variable impact on the entire foodweb, including on fisheries resources. In certain cases this impact can be even more important than the impact caused by the fishing activity. This report concentrates on "Sustainable Fisheries" and how to achieve this goal. Only the most relevant aspects of fishing activities have therefore been considered (as appears from the Sector Definition). On the following pages, information can be found on: |
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