On March 27, the Ministry of the Environment sent an information request to the North Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) in response to which the organization confirmed that they have no claims against Estonia as concerns the submission of fishing data. Another letter was sent by the Ministry to the Canadian fisheries administration. In the end of April, Director General of the Fish Resources Department Mr. Ain Soome plans to meet the head of Canada's fisheries administration in order to clarify Estonia's positions regarding the matter. According to Mr. Enno Kobakene, Chief Specialist of the Fish Resources Department, the claim of Canadian Government that Estonian fishing vessels have caught over 1000 tons of shrimp in NAFO waters, while the preliminarily agreed quota amounted to only 268 tons, is not understandable. There are two zones in NAFO waters where Estonian vessels go fishing. In zone 3L, the catches are regulated in tons; in zone 3M - in fishing days (not tons) and the actual catch depends on how effectively the fishing vessels use their fishing days," said Kobakene. In 2001, the quota for Estonia in zone 3L was 67 tons and the actual catch amounted to 67.6 tons. In zone 3M the quota was 1389 fishing days; the actual time amounting to 1298 fishing days within which 9850 tons of shrimp were caught. In addition to the above quota, the quota traded from Cuba, USA and Poland were also used for fishing in the zone. The trading of fishing quota among the states was official and registered in the NAFO Secretariat. Additional information: Mr. Enno Kobakene, Chief Specialist, Fish Resources Department; Telephone (+372) 6112982, (+372) 51-20435 |
