LITHUANIA
Vessels fishing in the open Baltic Sea target sprat and herring as well as salmon and cod. In the absence of cod quotas, those of other species have become even more important (archive photo).
of cod bycatch. From the LFPA, Mr Bargaila confirms, most coastal fishers have taken advantage of the support available to purchase more selective fishing gear.
Open Baltic Sea vessels are subject to intense monitoring The large-scale fleet operating in the open Baltic Sea is responsible for the bulk of Lithuania’s Baltic Sea catches of some 17,000 tonnes in 2020. These vessels, 27 in 2020, are subject to several control measures including physical inspections at sea, vessel monitoring, traceability systems, and electronic logbooks. Inspectors cross check catches and landings with the logbooks and since last year, following an EFCA recommendation, vessels inspected 30
at sea are again inspected at landing especially when reinforced controls are carried out in certain periods. A European Commission proposal to tighten control rules is in the process of being adopted and will potentially see all fishing vessels being tracked, the harmonisation of sanctions for the infringement of fisheries rules across the EU, and improved traceability of seafood products. While Mr. Maþernis, and no doubt inspectors in other EU countries, supports the use of CCTV on large-scale vessels to monitor fishing operations in real time, the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries decided not to make it mandatory unless as a penalty for vessels that infringe repeatedly. Not complying with regulations can take different forms, but those
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typically seen by Lithuanian inspectors include the use of prohibited or non-compliant gear, or the failure to record or report catches.
A traceability system that tracks the fish from the sea to the final buyer European legislation demands the traceability of seafood from sea to plate and in Lithuania a system has been in place for over two years that can trace the fish from the vessel to the last buyer. The system records the fish from the vessel to the landing point and each transaction in the distribution chain. All the data is maintained in the Fisheries Service’s system to which the first buyers have access so they can record their own transactions which are
associated with their user ids. In this way the Fisheries Service knows who has bought and sold what. This control extends all the way to the retail outlets at small markets where inspectors can use quick response (QR) code scanners to scan boxes of fish and confirm their provenance and their compliance with the 48-hour rule which specifies that fixed nets must be emptied every 48 hours at most. By ensuring compliance with the rules, adding value to catches, fishing more sustainably, and developing science-based solutions all the players in the Lithuanian fisheries sector, fisheries managers, fishers, and researchers, contribute to an environmentally, economically, and socially viable sector in the long term.
