[ad_1]
The Minister for the Environment, Kęstutis Mažeika, who is proposing such changes, says that the aim is not only to combat poaching and the concealment of fish catches, but also to create more favorable conditions for research and protection of fishery resources. Liberal Simon Gentville, a member of the Environment Committee at the time, says even tighter safeguards are needed to help reduce illegal fishing.
“Working (commercial fishing companies – BNS) transparently and without resources. (…) With the advent of telemetry, there will be traceability: knowing where to fly, what networks to build and where to build. It would be a great step towards the cause common: show how honest you are and that poaching is not carried out, because there are unmarked nets, and then the shadow falls on honest fishermen entrepreneurs, “said K. Mažeika about the BNS amendments.
According to him, the introduction of telemetry monitoring could eliminate some requirements for commercial fishing entrepreneurs, such as recording catches during fishing.
Sigismund Gedvila photo / 15min / Kęstutis Mažeika
S. Gentvilas says that the use of modern technologies for fish accounting is advanced, but K. Mažeika calls the proposed variant imperfect. It suggests marking nets and their location instead of tracking the movement of ships.
“There are often trawls in sea fishing, so boats must be tracked here because they become nets. It is not the boats that fish in the Curonian Lagoon, but the nets. (… ) In the Curonian Lagoon, the most important are the nets, where they are located, at what time, so that inspectors can see the nets instead of sailing boats, ”S. Gentvilas told BNS.
He doubts that a proposed amendment to the Fisheries Law will curb poaching and reduce illegal fishing.
“Illegal fishing is widespread. The Curonian Lagoon catches many unmarked nets, the numbers of which are large. In smokehouses, it can often be seen that both starlings and salmon are traded in an unacceptable size,” said S. Gentvilas.
According to K. Mažeika, the Ministry has already provided funds for the purchase of equipment: 30 thousand. This was found in this year’s Environmental Support Program.
According to data from the Ministry of the Environment, around 40 companies can fish in the Curonian Lagoon, around 900 commercial fishing gears are allowed to be used at different times, around a thousand fish are caught per year. tons of various fish. Fishing companies not only have assigned fishing areas, but can also use fishing gear anywhere in the Curonian Lagoon.
[ad_2]
