LITHUANIA
Fishery Enterprises Association, Lampetra
A PO for the Curonian lagoon fisheries Silute, a small town close to the Curonian lagoon, hosts the Fishery Enterprises Association and producer organisation, Lampetra. About 40 companies are members of the association, which was founded in 1993 and led by Siga Jakubauskiene, the chairwoman of the council. arch enemy, the angling fraternity, with whom they are forced to share stocks.
Various initiatives add value to the catch
Siga Jakubauskiene, Chairwoman of the Council of the Fishery Enterprises Association, Lampetra, and Ramunas Krisciunas, the owner of three companies, Baltoji kopa, Juros vejas and Novika.
L
ampetra became a producer organisation in 2011 and today is busy implementing its programme for the 2014-17 period. Members of the association are primarily fishermen active in the Curonian lagoon, the Nemunas delta, and the coastal Baltic Sea. There are about 50 companies fishing in the Curonian lagoon of which Lampetra represents 40. Most of these are small familyowned companies with about 5 employees, except in the smelt fishing season when a number of temporary workers are hired. Fishermen typically use either smaller wooden vessels of 6-8 m length or larger ones that are 9-10 m. 42
Becoming a PO brings significant benefits There are 19 species of commercial interest in the Curonian lagoon, which the fishermen target with static gear including fyke nets. Catches in the Curonian lagoon amount to about 1,200 tonnes per annum a figure that has stayed largely stable for the past few years. What has changed, however, is the value. Ms Jakubauskiene shows statistics that reveal how the value of the catch has trended upwards over the last four years, a development she attributes to the association becoming a recognised producer organisation (PO). One of the prerequisites was that the association
make a programme to improve the quality of the fish. The implementation of the programme resulted in a better-quality product for which the fishermen were able to demand higher prices. The figures show that the unit price increased from 2011 to 2014, but then with the introduction of the euro in 2015 the price declined. It recovered somewhat in 2016, but did not reach the 2014 level. The PO also helps its members with issues such as work safety, veterinary approvals, form filling and submission. It also organises lectures on various topics, improves IT skills and carries out other activities for the good of the members. The members also recognise that united in a PO they carry more weight against their
Among the steps the PO took to improve the quality of the catch was to improve the logistics. Transport times were reduced with the introduction of faster cars, and refrigeration was widely used when freighting and storing the fish. The PO also carried out promotion campaigns, organised tasting events, and had the products analysed in laboratories to verify the quality, all of which resulted in greater awareness and increased popularity of the products. As an inland fisheries PO Lampetra could not however make use of the storage aid mechanism as this is available only for saltwater species. Currently the PO has an ongoing project to establish an electronic fresh fish shop where fishers will be able to sell fresh fish directly to consumers with the help of an app that is being developed. The PO is also creating its own brand “Lampetra” that will be used to market the fish to retailers. The main customers today are processors, companies that smoke or dry the fish, as well as distributors who in turn sell it to the retail sector. But Ms Jakubauskiene would like to eliminate the middlemen and see greater volumes being sold directly to the end consumer.
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08/06/17 6:24 pm