Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Sweden have called on the EU Council and the EU Commission to address Russia's "unsustainable" fishing activities in the Baltic Sea.

In a joint statement, the four countries asked the EU Council and European Commission to respond to Russia flouting regional fishing bans in Baltic waters. They said Russia's actions undermine joint efforts between EU members and Russia to rebuild depleted fish stocks.

"Russia is systemically implementing autonomous fishing opportunities for targeted cod, herring and sprat fisheries in the Baltic Sea," the statement read. "Such extremely unsustainable fishing activities in the Baltic Sea are undermining our joint efforts to rebuild the biological resources of this sea basin."

The four countries raised concerns that Russian fleets are fishing for herring, cod and sprat in Russia's Baltic waters during seasonal bans observed by EU members. They warned some of the illegally caught fish may be entering the EU market.

They accused the EU of failing to adequately respond to the issue, despite warnings two years ago.

"Adequate response at the EU level so far has been absent... Time to act is past due, and adequate EU action is inevitable," the statement read.

The countries made their appeal as the EU develops fishing quotas for 2025. Four out of 10 targeted Baltic fisheries have faced bans in recent years due to steep stock declines blamed on overfishing, pollution and climate change.