ESTONIA
is complicated because it is not a targeted species but gets taken as by-catch. If the salmon quota is reduced it could choke the coastal fishery for the species where salmon is the by-catch bringing it to a close before the end of the year. To try and prevent this Estonia tries to achieve a reasonable solution. Estonia keenly revives salmon populations in its rivers and makes a determined effort to maintain and strengthen its salmon stocks, observes Mr Kiisler. Firstly, catches are kept under
control: in the spawning season in November, when the fish is heading to the spawning grounds up the rivers from the sea, volunteers keep an eye to ensure “peaceful spawning�. Fish passes, close to 100 in number, have been built to facilitate the passage of the fish up and down stream. In addition, dams are being removed altogether to create long open stretches of water for the fish, breeding habitats are being restored, and finally a restocking programme is repopulating rivers with salmon. However, he emphasises, the purpose
of the restocking programme for salmon (and other species) is not to provide fishermen with fish to catch, but to kickstart the rehabilitation of salmon in Estonian rivers so that in time self-sustaining populations can be created.
Numerous external issues on the agenda Apart from the negotiations on fishing opportunities, the presidency will also deal with a number of external issues. For example, Estonia will chair meetings on bilateral agreements
between the EU and third countries, such as, Morocco and Greenland, to discuss Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements that expire in 2018. The presidency will also cover multilateral cooperation issues with various regional fisheries management organisations including NAFO, NEAFC (coastal states meeting), GFCM, ICCAT, and CCAMLR. With more than 30 international negotiations to chair the ministry of the environment is unlikely to have a dull moment during the six months of the presidency.
OfďŹ cials in the Ministry of Rural Affairs contemplate a self-sustaining ďŹ sheries sector
Falling support levels encourage new thinking The Estonian Ministry of Rural Affairs, which administers the ďŹ sheries sector (together with the Ministry of Environment), is continuously looking for ways to streamline and simplify the administration. It is also keen for the sector to prepare itself for a world with less support.
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he Ministry of Rural Affairs is responsible for the collection of data regarding commercial catches of fish and seafood in accordance with EU regulations, which cover certain internationally regulated species, and which prescribe the data to be collected. Data is also collected on freshwater species and coastal fisheries which are regulated nationally. While data collection is a continuous exercise, the ministry is developing electronic tools to improve quality and analysis. This, says Ain Soome, Head of the Fisheries Economics Department, should lead to better and more reliable data as it will strengthen control of the data, make it easier to cross check, and, crucially, make data in one database available to
other systems, so that the same data does not have to be collected from the source multiple times. In the case of the coastal fishery a new app for fishermen was developed that will enable fishers to upload their data to a central database from the vessel itself.
Market-based measures may contribute to efficiency These new systems are expected to contribute to the overall simplification in bureaucracy that the ministry is constantly trying to achieve. Although Estonia is hardly the most inefficient country in the EU, there is scope for improvement. Olavi Petron, Deputy Secretary General for
Olavi Petron, Deputy Secretary General for Fisheries Policy and Foreign Affairs Eurofish Magazine 4 / 2017
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