Ordinance of the Minister for the Environment No 345 of 08.05.2014
Temporary closure of trawl fishing in the Gulf of
In the EEZ of the Republic of Latvia in 2014.


The order was issued on the basis of paragraph 19(3) of the Law on fishing.

In order to protect Baltic herring, it is necessary, on a proposal from scientists, to prohibit fishing with trawls in marine areas through which straddling trawls on the high seas migrate to territories in the Gulf of Livi and the high seas. The main spawning habitats of the herring are located in the north of the Gulf of Livi, which is why the ban on trawling in Estonian waters from 20 April to 19 May is imposed by decree of the Minister of the Environment. By decision of the Minister for Agriculture of the Republic of Latvia, trawling shall be prohibited in the territorial and internal waters and in the exclusive economic zone of Latvia from 12 May to 10 June 2014. Pursuant to Regulation No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013, Member States may take measures for the conservation and management of fishery resources in waters under their sovereignty or jurisdiction which apply only to fishing vessels flying the flag of the Member State concerned and registered in the Community. The Fisheries Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Estonia and the Government of the Republic of Latvia obliges Estonia to extend the restrictions on the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Republic of Latvia in the EU Common Fisheries Zone to vessels flying its flag.

The prohibition on fishing for Räime to protect pre-spawning cones is essential in order to protect not only the herring in the Gulf of Livi (throat snap) but also the offshore herring that is coming to the spawning of the Gulf of Livi and whose stocks are in a state of decline. Scientists estimate that the spawning herring is a more dense cone than usual, and trawling during this period can cause significant damage to the spawning stock. Trawling may also seriously interfere with the movement of pre-spawning cones to the area of the tissue and the course of normal spawning in the
.
On the basis of the above

let me decide:

1. Prohibit vessels flying the flag of the Republic of Estonia from fishing with trawls in the Gulf of Livi in the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Latvia from 12 May to 10 June 2014.

2. A decree to be published in the official publication Ametlikud Teadaanded and on the internet on the website of the Ministry of the Environment
.

(signed digitally)

Keit Pentus-Rosimannus


Send: Ministry of Agriculture, Environment Inspectorate, Estonian fishing Association, Estonian professional fishermen's Association, Estonian trawling Association, Estonian fishermen's Association, Estonian Kalalit, Estonian fishermen's Association, Bay of Liivi Fisheries Assembly