ESTONIA
Läänemaa FLAG is putting 10-year strategy into action
Local efforts for long-lasting beneďŹ ts Supported by the Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) project under the EMFF, Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs) are comprised of local partnerships that respond to the speciďŹ c issues in a certain region. Within Estonia, this bottom-up approach builds on the needs identiďŹ ed primarily by their small-scale coastal ďŹ sheries.
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LAGs bring together the private sector, local authorities and municipalities, and civil society organizations to create employment and improve working conditions for the fishermen. Rather than having most of the operations carried out remotely in Tallinn, the eight Estonian FLAGs thrive on a bi-directional exchange of knowledge: local fishermen cooperate and apply for funding for projects that will help their own communities, and, at the same time, learn the processes and workings of the bureaucracy.
FLAGs differ from Producer Organisations Of the eight FLAGs in Estonia, six are coastal and two are inland. The average budget for
each FLAG is ₏3 million euros, with the largest receiving up to ₏4.5 million and the smallest with ₏1.2 to ₏1.3 million. An intermediate body checks that all project procedures are correctly followed, determines whether they are approved for funding, and monitors the FLAGs throughout the projects. While in previous periods, FLAGs had to have at least 60 of members from the fishing sector, new EU regulation stipulates that none of the interest groups represented could make up more than 50 of the FLAG; this unfortunately resulted in the removal of some fishermen from FLAGs to accommodate the new rule. However, many of the FLAGs are still fisheryoriented and remain separate from the producer organizations, allowing them to focus on
Margus Medell, head of the FLAG, Läänemaa Rannakalanduse Selts, that is helping to add value to fishermen’s catches. 42
providing benefits to small-scale coastal fishermen through localized projects. Liis Reinma from the Ministry of Rural Affairs, comments on the advantage of having such a small, concentrated group of Estonian fishermen to oversee, “There are very big countries and a lot of managing authorities do not know what their FLAGs are doing, but Estonia is such a small country that you have a very good overview all the time of what is happening.�
landing sites, which were previously left in the same poor conditions as they were from Soviet times. While there were 43 landing sites as of 2013, 89.3 of landings were concentrated in 13 of them. Over 53.8 of funding went to port renovations to provide fuel, build small shops, and set up facilities for refrigeration and chilling. The ports are now cared for and monitored by local municipalities, along with help from the Environmental Ministry.
Collaboration for improved working conditions and higher incomes
Consumption studies were conducted around the local market. Results showed that if consumers had higher incomes, they would purchase more fish. This aligned with the trend of increased consumption during a healthier economy. Surprisingly, however, when the
According to Ms Reinma, one of the biggest achievements of the previous period was the renovation of local ports and
Mart Vahtel, one of three fishers who owns the processing facility in the basement of the fisheries house in Dirhami.
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