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Public figures in the Curonian lagoon filmed in the blink of an eye: the enterprising fishermen, urged to release potentially illegally caught fish, expressed their dissatisfaction not only with the tirades of threats and threats, but also by throwing fish into the boat of the public environmental organization “Diario de Salmón”. After this incident, the Ministry of the Environment (AAD) has launched an investigation, but members of the organization have criticized the department for incapacity.
The shocking video was shared by the environmental NGO “Salmon Diary” on the social network’s Facebook account on July 13. It reveals the unadorned reality of entrepreneurial fishermen’s behavior, which unfolds when they are potentially supposed to be committing a crime.
Threatened and dusted with fish
You hear in the footage that a conversation takes place between members of a non-governmental organization and fishermen of nearby businessmen who navigate in a boat, dragging a sea trap with a considerable amount of fish from the water into the boat, which soon breaks by a wave of rage.
“Men, what kind of fish do you fish here? Starkis? As for size, we will have to run ”, warned the male voice emanating from the public boat. However, the silence that lasted a few seconds was interrupted by a threat from the businessmen’s fishing boat, accompanied by curses: “Come closer, bitch, he’s going to take a stone out of you!”, One threatened. “Be courteous, and all starlings – illegal – in the water,” advised a member of the organization “Salmon Diary”. “And no one has put it in their mouth yet?” Asked one of the potential offenders arrogantly. “Well, if someone gave, it would probably be fine,” replied the man who tried to orally discipline fishermen-entrepreneurs.
The incident did not end with a simple joke: the fishermen, throwing some of the caught fish overboard from their boat, threw it into the boat of an environmental non-governmental organization. The man who caught one of those “flyers” added in the video: “Well, here’s a fish: gifts from a businessman, threatened to cope,” he said.
Overboard – only low payment
Kęstutis Klimavičius, director of the Lašiša newspaper, told the journalists of the kauno.diena.lt portal what happened during the stretch between Kintai and Pervalka that day, when the video was filmed.
From what I could see, the main fish caught were starlings. They released only what doesn’t look commercial, is sweaty, or what can’t be sold at a normal price.
“As is often the case, we went out to see what entrepreneurs capture. We swam towards one of the businessmen who was pulling the tool. We waited for it to be withdrawn and found that it only attracted illegal starlings, smaller than commercial size ones. The fans have to run like this. We decided to film it and they didn’t like it, they wouldn’t let us get close, they threatened to be stoned, beaten and then covered us with fish, ”recalled K. Klimavičius.
According to the interlocutor, after the incident, the fishermen threw bream down the side of their boat, the purchase price of which was too low to pay for transporting the species to land, while the starlings remained.
“They caught everything that fell into their marine trap, which the entrepreneurs themselves called smart. According to our estimates, you can catch up to 50 times more than eel trap fishing. They should release prohibited catches or protected fish, but select only what they do not need. This is the principle by which the selectivity of that trap operates. From what I could see, the main fish caught were starlings. They only launched what has no commercial appearance, is sweaty, or what they cannot sell at a normal price ”, the headline of Diario del Salmón painted the unadorned face of the fishermen-entrepreneurs.
Suspected rape
K. Klimavičius explained that the size of a business star is 46 centimeters. However, if the fish caught in this species is viable, it must be returned to the water. It is said that if 100 kg of starlings are caught, their by-catch can be only 10%.
“This means that 10 kg could be caught for every 100 kg of that fish if it is not viable. In the filmed case, there was an obvious violation, in terms of the number of boxes and the number of fish that they put in the boat, it could there are about half a ton of fish there. And in a single trip to go fishing and return to shore, no matter how much we check, they catch between 500 and 700 kg of fish, “said the interlocutor.
He said he knew that the arrogant businessmen in the spotlight of the non-governmental organization he ran were locals: they lived in the town of Kintai, in the Šilutė district. “I know where your unloading place is, where the ship is. Almost every morning, when the weather is better, they return to the coast around ten o’clock, “said K. Klimavičius.
Outraged by failure
The director of “Diario del Salmon” said Wednesday that he had not yet submitted a request to the AAD about the event. This is done deliberately, to verify how the system works and in the hope that the department’s own representatives will react when they see the video broadcast on the social network and communicate with them.
“Environmentalists know everything, there is nothing to tell them,” he said, adding that the NGO AAD had repeatedly offered to cooperate and carry out raids to control commercial fishing, but failed to reach an agreement.
“When I called the Ministry in Vilnius two years ago and reported that the salmon had been caught, landed and sold, 20 minutes later a person called me who told me about the incident and asked if I was tired of living … Imagine the comments Everything happens very quickly, there has never been, there is not and there will not be any control. (…) It is very difficult to register the infractions because the state allows fishing entrepreneurs everything. (…) The Department of Environmental Protection – completely inactive , we reported many times, we offered to carry out joint raids, but the environmental managers of Klaipėda and Šilutė, at least not small, do not look in that direction į Such an impression that they participate jointly in the business ”.
Environmental Protection Department: Completely inoperative, we have reported many times, we have offered to conduct joint raids, but the environmental managers of Klaipėda and Šilutė, at least not small, do not look in that direction …
The director of a non-governmental environmental organization is convinced that commercial fishing should be prohibited because it is impossible to control. “Currently, the Seimas has a project to prohibit this activity or retrain it. In part, that’s why entrepreneurs are angry, but some left their culture behind in the 1990s. (…) If the state already allows fish to be caught with that gear and is not responsible, no matter how much it is caught, so much is caught. This is a problem of state regulation. The state has lifted those fishermen ”, the interlocutor put his finger on the wound.
The director of the non-governmental environmental organization “Lašišos dienoraštis” said that, together with the members of the organization, he works a lot on the Žeimena and Vilnelė rivers: he protects spawning fish. And now it has also taken control in the Curonian Lagoon. “Scientists have provided false data to the members of the Seimas, we want to deny it, therefore we are filming everything,” opened K. Klimavičius.
The case will be investigated
After the publication of a video recording the shocking behavior of commercial fishermen, journalists from the kauno.diena.lt portal asked the AAD representatives questions. They were interested not only in the recent case published on the social network, but also in the number of raids in the Curonian lagoon and other bodies of water in recent years, what violations were recorded, how many representatives of commercial fishing were sanctioned, what responsibilities were applied, etc. We have not received any reply yet.
However, on July 16. The AAD announced on its website that an investigation had been launched on behalf of Minister Simon Gentvilas into the incident, which was recorded in the “Salmon Diary”. The video is believed to capture the behavior of commercial fishermen in the Curonian Lagoon, which may violate the law.
“Commercial fishermen should not abuse fishing, harm fish, catch only fish of the allowed size and only in authorized areas. The publicly recorded actions of enterprising fishermen pose serious ethical responsibility for these activities,” said S Gentvilas.
“We are initiating a thorough investigation to learn all the circumstances of the incident and then we will take appropriate action,” said Raimondas Sakalauskas, Acting Director of AAD.
In accordance with the Procedure for Commercial Inland Fishing, inspections of gillnets and longlines, other gillnets, viable prohibited fishing, and unauthorized fish must be returned to the stock.
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