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ASOCIACIJŲ SĄJUNGA „ŽUVININKŲ RŪMAI“
“ŽUVININKŲ RŪMAI” THE ALLIANCE OF ASSOCIATIONS
Balsių g. Nr. 59, LT-08400, Vilnius, Tel. + 370 5 231 81 11, e-mail leonaske@takas.lt
To:
Mr Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council
Members of the European Parliament
Ms Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of the Republic of Lithuania
Ms Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania
Mr Algirdas Butkevičius, Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania
Ms Virginija Baltraitienė, Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of
Lithuania
Mr Kęstutis Trečiokas, Minister of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania
Mr Saulius Bucevičius, Chairman of the Committee on Rural Affairs of the
Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania
Mr Algimantas Salamakinas, Chairman of the Committee on Environmental
Protection of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania
Mr Julius Sabatauskas, Chairman of the Committee on Legal Affairs of the
Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania
Mr Gediminas Kirkilas, Chairman of the Committee on European Affairs of the
Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania
Mr Remigijus Žemaitaitis, Chairman of the Committee on Economics of the
Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania
Mr Raimundas Paliukas, Chairman of the Commission for Maritime and Fishery
Affairs of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania
Members of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania
Members of the Monitoring Committee and Social-Economic Partners
The Media
LAST ROUND
Vilnius, 22 July 2014
The work of evaluating the implementation of the Operational Programme for
the Lithuanian Fisheries Sector 2007–2013 is nearing the end in Lithuania
and the programming documents for the fisheries sector for the period
2014–2020 are underway. Therefore, I would like to bring forward several
important fisheries related problems, which, to my mind, have not received
adequate attention. Lithuanian authorities, politicians and public officials
have already been informed about this matter.
Some thoughts about fisheries
Each person is recommended to eat 24 kg of fish or fish products per year.
Lithuanians eat about 13-14 kg.
Recreational fishermen catch around 1200–1500 tonnes of fish annually.
Commercial fishermen catch about 1500 tonnes of fish in internal waters,
though under the Operational Programme 2007–2013 they should catch
approximately 1800 tonnes of fish per annum. Poachers and illegal fishermen
catch about 1300–1800 tonnes of fish every year, with the annual damage to
fish stocks amounting to roughly LTL 30 million (EUR 8.7 million), while
cormorants, on their part, catch about 600-800 tonnes of fish. In 2013 the
fines for poaching were increased.
A minister’s order has superiority over the LAW in Lithuania
By Order No D1-267 of 8 March 2010, Minister of Environment Gediminas
Kazlauskas prohibited commercial fishing in Kaunas Reservoir and the upper
basin of Kruonis Pumped Storage Plant (KPSP) as of 1 January 2013 (Official
Gazette Valstybės žinios, 2010, No 29-1365).
A number of scientists, lawyers, businessmen, specialists and politicians
argue that the order on the prohibition of commercial fishing in Kaunas
Reservoir and Kruonis Pumped Storage Plant has no legal force and should
therefore be considered NULL AND VOID as it is in prejudice of the Law on
Fisheries of the Republic of Lithuania (Official Gazette Valstybės žinios,
2000, No 1648). Article 6(1) of the Law maintains: “Fishing regulation
measures shall be set and applied following the fisheries research data…”
According to the research, in 2013 commercial fishermen could catch 65
tonnes of fish in Kaunas Reservoir and 15 tonnes of fish in the basin of
Kruonis PSP.
Since 1 January 2013, the Ministry of Environment has not issued any permits
for commercial fishermen to fish in Kaunas Reservoir and the basin of
Kruonis PSP. The turbines of Kruonis PSP mince fish on a mass scale because
the water current carries fish stocks from the basin straight into the
turbines. The Ministry of Environment made a gross violation of the
applicable law, while commercial fishermen incurred losses. A situation in
2014 is similar.
It should be noted that not once had a number of politicians, scientists,
specialists and commercial fishermen explained about unlawful actions of the
ministers of environment, Kazlauskas and Mazuronis, on the prohibition of
commercial fishing in a number of water bodies in the meetings, discussions
and conferences. No one has to this day officially reacted to the violations
made by the ministers, whereas prohibitions are gaining an increasingly
broad scope.
On 17 May 2013 Minister of Environment Valentinas Mazuronis issued the order
prohibiting commercial fishing in all inland waters as of 1 January 2015,
with the exception of the Curonian Lagoon and the specialised fishing of
certain fish (Official Gazette Valstybės žinios, 2013, No 53-2648). It
should be noted that upon conducting research, scientists have not to this
day recommended the prohibition of commercial fishing in any of the water
bodies. Many are unsettled by questions as to how much longer the violations
of LAWS are going to last in Lithuania, who will take responsibility in
respect of fishermen for the damages caused and who will be punished for the
violation of laws.
Some 8 years ago the leaders of politics and public administration started
declaring that commercial fishermen catch a lot of fish; they poach and
interfere with recreational fishing. The smearing propaganda targeted at
commercial fishermen was created and handed over to recreational fishermen
for the fight against commercial fishermen hoping that a lot of recreational
fishermen would vote for the parliamentary candidates defending the
interests of recreational fishermen. The opinion was massively promoted by
all means possible that commercial fishermen were poaching on a mass scale
and catching all the fish. Minister of Environment Valentinas Mazuronis was
especially talented in refining the black technologies of despising and
smearing commercial fishermen. Rumour has it that thanks to them he has been
elected a member of the European Parliament in 2014. Attention should be
paid that according to the applicable law the activities of about 140
fishing undertakings in internal waters are strictly governed by legal acts.
Reasonable people understand that commercial fishermen, who obtain permits
for fishing in some 100 water bodies, cannot catch all the fish in the
remaining 3000 lakes, 1500 ponds and 29000 rivers, rivulets and channels.
Politicians and public officials succeeded in sowing discontent between
recreational and commercial fishermen and winning some extra votes in
electoral campaigns. Supposedly, ministers Kazlauskas and Mazuronis issued
unlawful orders as a thank-you to some politicians and recreational
fishermen and terrorise commercial fishermen, WHEREAS OTHER LITHUANIAN
LEADERS AND POLITICIANS KEEP SILENT AND DO NOT REACT BECAUSE, APPARENTLY,
THEY ARE EXPECTING THE VOTES OF RECREATIONAL FISHERMEN IN THE FUTURE.
Even school graduates know that the LAW has supremacy over a minister’s
order, though some politicians and public officials still think that the
order of ministers, especially that of Valentinas Mazuronis, is more
important and has more powers than the LAW ON FISHERIES OF THE REPUBLIC OF
LITHUANIA.
The programming documents for 2014-2020 have much to say about the economic
growth, creation of new jobs, support to coastal and land communities.
However, it is not without reason that nothing is told about the negative
phenomena, about the destruction of fishing business in inland waters, about
the increase of social exclusion and unemployment. While the small fishing
business in the world is promoted, Lithuania, on the contrary, is on a
mission to destruct it.
Plenty of similar facts can be found in Lithuania.
Perhaps it can explain why:
1 million ha of land lies waste in Lithuania and huge sums are paid for
people not to cultivate their land, while dozens of people in the world are
starving. Lithuania has the highest emigration level in the whole EU.
Lithuania has one of the lowest wages in the EU, while the prices of goods
and services are approaching the European level. Lithuania is the leader by
the number of suicides in the EU. Lithuania takes THE FIRST POSITION among
the EU Member States by alcohol consumption per person – each resident of
our country consumes the average amount of 15.4 l of absolute ethyl alcohol.
President L. Kerosierius
of the Alliance of Associations “Žuvininkų rūmai”
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