“Throughout times, Estonia has considered the good condition of fish resources important and the long-term prudent use of our fish resources has been a running principle for the whole fishery domain,” told the Minister of the Environment Keit Pentus to the fishery representative, while introducing Estonia’s positions. “The Baltic herring and sprat resources of the Baltic Sea are not threatened. Our resources are stable and have been so for the last 20 years; some resources are even on a considerably higher level than the long-term average. We have been, therefore, discontented with the European Commission’s hitherto drastic practice with reference to the radical cuts in terms of sprat and Baltic herring fishing possibilities.” Each year in October EU enacts the Baltic Sea quota regulation, which establishes the fishing possibilities of financially most important Baltic Sea fish resources (cod, salmon, sprat, Baltic herring). The regulation concerns eight Member States close to the Baltic Sea, including Estonia. As one possibility, the European Commission proposed last summer the compilation of a common long-term management plan for the sprat, Baltic herring and cod resources of the Baltic Sea. “We propose that the reducing of fisheries quota should happen gradually, considering thereby the mutual relations of different fish species in a trophic chain. As sprat and Baltic herring resources are alongside with catch most of all influenced by cod, the Estonian proposal has been to view these fish species together. According to scientists’ remarks, cod resources have increased significantly and cod could be caught more, which in its turn would mean that fishermen would also have more sprat and Baltic herring to catch. Thus, we are waiting for a faster move in terms of the common long-term management plan,” explained the Minister of the Environment Keit Pentus. The distribution of fishing possibilities between Member States, based on the fisheries agreement between the European Union and third countries, was also under consideration. The Ministry of the Environment considers it fair that the fishing possibilities achieved via the European Union financing in the framework of these agreements could be used on an equal footing by all interested ships of the Member States. “We also expressed our concern over the Commission’s late decision with which the exchange of catch segment initiative fishing possibilities with partners from third countries was stopped. It diminishes the outlooks of remote catch enterprises to use their fishing possibilities optimally and in an economically best way,” said Pentus. |
