Ordinance of the Minister for the Environment No 774 of 16.10.2014,
Closure of fishing activities with traps in the lakes of Peipsi, Lämmi and Pihkva in 2014
The order shall be issued on the basis of paragraph 19(3) of the Law on fishing.

The lakes of Peipsi, Lämmi and Pihkva have evolved since 10 October 2014, with 98.3% of the redfish quota having been exhausted and the catches closed on 27 September. The Latika quota has been reached at 96,2% and closed on 7 October. From the same day, it is also prohibited to fish with gillnets from which it is not possible to discard live fish. Fishing with traps has so far been open since, according to letter No 3-10/MI-17560-2 sent to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Estonian Institute of Marine Affairs of TÜ Estonia on 22.09.2014, it is possible to discard fish from trap live in the autumn in the case of cold water, but the proportion of fish to be returned must not be very high. However, in view of the species composition of the catches made with those gears and the fact that, since 11 October, a minimum size of 46 cm (full length) has been in force, approximately 90% of the catches in weight must be returned to lakes, even more so in terms of number of specimens. Letter No 13-5.1/14/8568 of 14 October 2014 from the Estonian Institute of Marine Affairs of TU States that discards of this volume of fish are a very labour-intensive and time-consuming process and that most of the minimum size fish die in the
.
In the light of the above:

1. I shall prohibit fishing by traps in lakes Peipsi, Lämmi and Pihkva from 19 October 2014 in
.
3. The Fisheries Unit shall arrange for the publication of the circular in the official publication Ametlikud Teadaanded and on the website of the Ministry of the Environment in
.