New commercial fishing right fees for fishing in the Baltic Sea, on internal water bodies and for distant water fishing (in the fishing areas of NAFO, NEAFC, Spitzbergen and the south-western Atlantic) will become effective on 1 January 2005. These fees were imposed by the decision of the last sitting of the Government of the Republic. The commercial fishing fees were imposed on all internationally regulated species of fish: Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras), sprat (Sprattus sprattus), cod (Gadus morhua), salmon (Salmo salar), common prawn (Palaemon serratus), squid (Ommastrephes spp.), Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides), etc. As a rule, the price of fishing has been given in kroons per tonne. A different basis is used only for common prawn in the NAFO area, where in the 3M sub-area the price has been imposed on a fishing day, and for the Baltic Sea salmon. In the south-western Atlantic fishing area a uniform price of EEK 100 per tonne will become valid for internationally unregulated species of fish. The new fees have not changed much in comparison with 2004. As the generation of Baltic herring and sprat that will be caught next year is relatively numerous, but at the same time the individuals of these species are small by weight, and considering the existing difficulties in marketing fish and fishery products in Russia and Ukraine, the fishing right fees for sprat and Baltic herring have been reduced from EEK 40 to EEK 20. The fees have been raised on water bodies where eel is caught and on fish traps used for catching eel. As eels do not propagate naturally in Estonia, the state incurs high expenses every year in artificially restocking the water bodies with eel fry. In the case of coastal fishing where fishing quantity is regulated by the number of fish traps, fees have been imposed on fish traps on the basis of their fishing capacity. The fees are based on the usual value of the fish caught, i.e. the value the fisherman gets in return for selling the fish to the initial buyer / processor. According to the law, the fee should not exceed 4 % of the usual value of the fish caught. The studies, opinions and recommendations of the Institute of Zoology and Botany of the Estonian Agricultural University and the Estonian Marine Institute of the University of Tartu served as a foundation for imposing the commercial fishing right fees. The regulation of the Government of the Republic of 23 December 2004 Commercial fishing right fee for 2005 will be published in the State Gazette. Further information: |
