The most important amendment concerning professional fishermen is making the life of chronic violators more difficult, i.e., a point system will be established on violations of the Fishing Rules. For example, fishing with prohibited gear will mean four penalty points for the owner of the fishing vessel. It is possible to get as many as 12 penalty points at a time in case of fishing during a prohibited period without a permit, ignoring the orders of an inspector. "The more the owner of a certificate violates the Fishing Rules, the stricter will the consequences be. The certificate will be suspended automatically for two months upon reaching 18, 36, 54 and 72 points, while upon the fifth violation or 90 points the fishing vessel certificate will be declared void and the fishing vessel cannot be used anymore," said the Minister of the Environment Keit Pentus. Points will be deleted if the owner of the fishing vessel certificate does not commit any serious violation in three years. A clause will be added to the Act, according to which falsification of a document verifying the origin of fish and submission of such document or false data will be considered a serious violation. It also cancels the provision that classified recreational fishing without a fishing permit or without making of mobile payment for recreational fishing as a serious violation of the Fishing Rules. In the future, these violations will not be penalised with compensation of five-fold amount of the environmental damage. Options for establishment of total annual catches allocated for Estonia on Lake Peipus, Lake Lämmijärv and Lake Pskov will become more flexible in the Fishing Act. The Government will be entitled to establish the annual catch of a fish species also by the periods of 6 months, if necessary. "This enables to avoid the situations where most of the allocated amount is caught during the first six months and due to fulfilment of the quota, a fishing season must end very early. Researchers recommend catching fish equally during the first as well as the second six-month period after the spawning period and summering gain," Pentus explained. Division of the quota by six months will also ensure a more stable income to fishermen throughout a year. Amendment of the Act will enable to exempt the vessels used for coastal fishing on the basis of a fisherman’s fishing permit from the requirement of availability of satellite surveillance systems, if the vessel is operating only on the territorial seas of a flag Member State or will never stay on the sea for longer than 24 hours. |
