Covis-19 is not the worst time for fishermen – during the pandemic, the demand for canned fish has grown and the price of herring has risen. However, there is a problem, which is pointed out in the Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Agriculture.
The European Commission has radically reduced cod by-catch quotas in 2021. It is forbidden to catch cod specifically in the Baltic Sea, but sometimes it is inadvertently caught with other fish: in the so-called by-catch. There are concerns that reducing by-catch quotas could also halt herring fishing at some point.
Klapkalnciems coastal fisherman Dzintars Eglītis is famous for his pike. Just like the end of their catching season. Now press on the herring. In the Christmas tree house it is felt by the smell of fried herring. Not for own consumption, but to take the ladies to the Āgenskalns and Čiekurkalns markets.
“The most delicious is the herring fried in a house pan. I tried it on that big grill, well it’s not. There is torment, they bake for a long time, but there is a taste of home, ”says Kristīne Eglīte, the daughter of a Klapkalnciems fisherman.
In Klapaklnciems, Eglīši has remained the last fishermen. Everyone else, as in many places on the coast, has given up fishing.
Klapkalnciems fisherman Dzintars Eglītis says: “We have eaten, but that’s all. But what more does a person need. Clothes are bought in “humpals”, Yohaidi. Well calmly! ”
Traps and nets are becoming less and less of a fish each year, and the price per kilogram of fresh fish should also be higher.
“Bankruptcy with fresh fish. Met peace. If you know that you have that fish every day, then so be it. I go a week at other times, but there isn’t much, ”says Eglītis.
Fishermen in the Gulf of Riga are roaring – only spring has been rich in catches. But in the Christmas tree home, fish adds value – they fry and smoke, and then they put more money in their wallets.
In order to satisfy the growing gastronomic demands of the people of Riga, the fisherman’s daughter even opens Ulman’s cookbooks. “It simply came to our notice then. They like something interesting. Young people no longer eat simple mackerel or simple herring. That herring already has to figure out four or five ways to cook it, ”says Eglīte.
The fisherman of Klapkalnciems says: “Riga eats everything. Even imported soil is eaten by humans. Only Riga is sick. ”
Next year, 15% more herring will be allowed to be fished in the Gulf of Riga. But the bad news is for the sea itself: the amount of herring caught there will be reduced by 36%. More importantly, the European Commission plans to reduce the cod by-catch quota from 171 tonnes this year to just 51 tonnes next year. Fishing for cod is, in principle, prohibited, but may be marketed if it is caught as a by-catch to other fish, such as in net nets.
“Our concern is that there is no threat to fishing for other species. This is the case: if the cod by-catch quota is exhausted, any fishing that may contain cod must be suspended. Therefore, in the discussions on next year’s quotas, we will defend the opinion that 51 tons may not be enough, ”says Normunds Riekstins, Director of the Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Fishermen all over Latvia are whining about seals that damage fishing gear and empty their catches. Although this is the first year that seals and traps damaged by seals can be compensated for 30% of last year’s turnover, fishermen want another solution – to shoot seals. The Ministry of Agriculture does not say no.
“Try, see what the effect is when you shoot and how it was when you were not shot. Does the impact on damaged tools change, ”says Riekstins.
However, when exactly you can start shooting seals depends on the study of the Nature Protection Board about the seal population. Fishermen criticize the administration, saying – for a year now.
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