During the European Ocean Days last week another marine initiative was launched. However, it is unclear how the so-called OceanEye will contribute to a better marine environment, writes Ellen Bruno, policy analyst at the Baltic Sea Centre.
For an EU-ban on PFAS to be effective, it is important that derogations are limited in time and scope and provided only to uses where there are no viable alternatives, according to a new policy brief.
Between April and October 2026, the Askö Laboratory’s main building will undergo a major renovation to address fire safety requirements that the current bedrooms no longer meet.
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The development of new, efficient genetic tools for studying the invisible life in the sea and sediment has made the role of microbes in carbon and nutrient cycling increasingly evident.
The primary cause of the sharp decline in fish abundance the Stockholm Archipelago is the authorities’ failure to restrict increasingly technologically advanced fishing practices to sustainable levels, according to a new scientific publication.
This initiative follows the evaluation of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). It aims to better protect the marine environment, simplify rules and their implementation, improve data use, and reduce administrative burden including by easing reporting.
This week the European Commission opened a “Have your Say” regarding the upcoming Ocean Act. This new legislation aims to strengthen and modernise maritime spatial planning as a strategic tool that serves and implements the European Ocean Pact’s priorities.
The essential use concept, the mixture allocation factor and grouping. These are all approaches developed by researchers to improve the management of hazardous chemicals. At the last Baltic Breakfast, researchers Marlene Ågerstrand and Romain Figuiere explored these approaches and their potential applications.
In a new policy memo, researchers argue that when the Agriculture and Fisheries Council meets on 11–12 December 2025, it should take the decisive action adviced by ICES for years: a total fishing ban.
The film “Chasing the Arctic Melt” from Stockholm University won the “Best Science Film” category at the Explorers Festival in Iceland in November. The film, which also shows life as a researcher on an expedition, takes place aboard the icebreaker Oden, where a group of researchers are studying Arctic ice melt.
"Zero catches in all habitats" – ICES' advice on European eel remains unchanged from previous years. However, the new Swedish management plan presented this autumn still allows for commercial fishing for soon-ready-to-spawn eels. "The decision not to extend the most effective measure from the west coast to the Baltic Sea is based on an eel stock estimate for the Baltic Sea that is more akin to wishful thinking. The government had commissioned a review of this by the research council Formas, who downplayed and glossed over it in their report," comments policy analyst Charles Berkow.
EU fisheries ministers decided on higher catch quotas (TACs) than the Commission had proposed in the Baltic Sea next year. The TAC for Gulf of Bothnia herring was reduced, but not enough to comply with EU regulations. ‘It is remarkable that the Council is not complying with its own legislation,’ says Sara Söderström, fisheries researcher at the Baltic Sea Centre.
