3. Fishing shall take place over as large a geographical and bathymetric range as possible to obtain the information necessary to determine fishery potential and to avoid over-concentration of catch and fishing effort.

By way of derogation from Article 1, Finland and Sweden may authorise the placing on their market of wild caught herring larger than 17 cm (Clupea harengus), wild caught char (Salvelinus spp.), wild caught river lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis) and wild caught trout (Salmo trutta) and products thereof originating in the Baltic region and intended for consumption in their territory with levels of dioxins and/or dioxin-like PCBs and/or non dioxin-like PCBs higher than those set out in point 5.3 of the Annex, provided that a system is in place to ensure that consumers are fully informed of the dietary recommendations with regard to the restrictions on the consumption of wild caught herring larger than 17 cm, wild caught char, wild caught river l ...[+++]amprey and wild caught trout from the Baltic region and products thereof by identified vulnerable sections of the population in order to avoid potential health risks.

By way of derogation from Article 1, Finland, Sweden and Latvia may authorise the placing on their market of wild caught salmon (Salmo salar) and products thereof originating in the Baltic region and intended for consumption in their territory with levels of dioxins and/or dioxin-like PCBs and/or non-dioxin-like PCBs higher than those set out in point 5.3 of the Annex, provided that a system is in place to ensure that consumers are fully informed of the dietary recommendations with regard to the restrictions on the consumption of wild caught salmon from the Baltic region and products thereof by identified vulnerable sections of the population in order to avoid potential health ri ...[+++]sks.

As regards catch potential, according to the experts, we are reaching the limit and it is therefore right that the European Parliament and the Commission are attempting to put a limit on fishing, to manage catches in a sustainable way and to stamp out destructive forms of fishing.

Fisheries are now confronted with a growing structural imbalance between catch capacities and the biological potential of fisheries resources, resulting in overexploitation of these resources and alteration of marine ecosystems.

The Action Plan emphasises the potential of biodiversity to limit atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, thanks to carbon capture mechanisms.