Good catch for Latvia

RIGA - A meeting of the European Union’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council took place on Oct. 26 in Luxembourg, ending in success for Latvia, as the country obtained favorable quotas for the fishing of Baltic herring and sprats in 2011, reports Nozare.lv. The Latvian side succeeded in negotiating that the Baltic herring fishing quota for the central section of the Baltic Sea next year will be reduced by no more than 15 percent, while no reduction in the quota will be made for the Gulf of Riga. With this, Latvia’s fisherman will be allowed to catch 2,978 tons of herring in the Baltic Sea, and 19,591 tons in the Gulf of Riga.

The European Commission had suggested reducing Latvia’s overall herring quota in the Baltic Sea by 28 percent and in the Gulf of Riga by 10 percent, as well as reducing the quota for sprats by 30 percent and salmon by 15 percent.
The total reduction in the sprats quota will be 24 percent, or 39,949 tons, which is higher than Latvia and the other two Baltic States had hoped to achieve.

Meanwhile, the quota for the fishing of cod in the eastern Baltic Sea will be increased by 15 percent in 2011, and by 6 percent in the western part, allowing fishermen to catch 5,036 and 679 tons of cod, respectively.
“The talks were very difficult. The Latvian side persisted in defending its position that such a large reduction in fishing quotas was unacceptable both from a scientific and socio-economic perspective, and we achieved a great deal,” said Agriculture Minister Janis Duklavs following the meeting.