Krauze brings Russia's intensive fishing in Baltic Sea to EU fisheries commissioner's attention

RIGA - Agriculture Minister Armands Krauze (Greens/Farmers) during a meeting with the European Union's Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costa Kadis, drew the commissioner's attention to Russia's intensified and targeted fishing in the Baltic Sea, which cannot be compensated by fishing restrictions for EU fishers, LETA was told at the Agriculture Ministry.

Krauze indicated that fish stocks in the Baltic Sea are decreasing, and to preserve them, the EU has set extremely restrictive fishing quotas. Meanwhile, Russia continues intensive fishing for cod, herring and also sprat in the Baltic Sea, which poses a serious threat to these stocks, especially cod in the eastern Baltic Sea.

"I am very concerned about the direct negative impact this is having on our fisheries and their future," the Latvian minister said.

Since finding a solution in the current geopolitical circumstances is very problematic, Krauze called on the EU commissioner and the European Commission (EC) to take a serious look at the situation and not to place all the responsibility for the decline in fish stocks on the fishermen of the bloc's member states by imposing various catch limits. Krauze also believes that attention should be paid to the sector's socio-economic contribution to the sustainability of coastal fishermen.

The minister also stressed the necessity to remove the requirement to penalize fishermen who unwittingly misjudge the size of their catches on board their vessels, particularly the catches of unregulated small fish species. Tight fisheries control is necessary, but the proportionality of the requirements, the feasibility of their implementation and the added value of the new requirements need to be carefully assessed before imposing new rules and additional administrative burdens on fishermen and public authorities, the Latvian agriculture minister said.

At the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting in Brussels on Monday, both Latvia and Lithuania called on the EC to address the excessively small margin of error permitted for the on-board estimates of fish catches.