Estonian fishermen will be able to catch a total of 3611 tons of fish from the lakes next year, comprised of 1400 tons of perch, 714 tons of pikeperch, 614 tons of bream, 160 tons of pike, 300 tons of roach and 15 tons of whitefish. Substantively the quotas will remain at the same level as 2011. Fish experts from the Estonian Marine Institute at University of Tartu and the Estonian-Russian intergovernmental commission on fishing assessed the state of fishery resources of perch, bream, pike, and roach as being good in the above mentioned lakes. Fishery resources of pikeperch, cuttlefish, whitefish and European whitefish require stricter regulation. The condition of pikeperch levels is improving, supported by the above average sized generation spawned in 2009, although they have not yet grown large enough to be caught for the purposes of industrial fishing. In order to protect the young generation of pikeperch, the use of bottom trawl shall be prohibited on the lakes in the first half of 2012, since the use of fine mesh fishing gear will also result in undersized fish being caught. Due to mild winters, the fishery resources of cold water whitefish, cuttlefish and European whitefish are low, since warm winters do not promote successful spawning. In the case of European whitefish, however, a growth trend has been noted since 2010; while at the same time the increase in cuttlefish is being hindered by the large number of predatory fish. This year up to 10 tons of European whitefish was permitted to be caught from Lake Peipus, the catching of which, in connection with low fishery resources, had been banned since 2000. Next year, the fishing of European whitefish will be permitted for a period of one month, from 1-31 July, and the limit for European whitefish will be 15 tons, which is five tons more than this year. At the meeting, it was agreed that by 1 September of next year all ships using bottom trawls will be equipped with electronic positioning and monitoring equipment, in order to ensure improved monitoring over fishing activities. The fishing schedule for the second half of 2012, for Lake Peipus, Lämmijärv and Pskov, will be agreed upon at the bilateral fishing consultations taking place in Russia, in June of next year. |
