The State Agency for Fisheries of Ukraine has developed three bills to introduce systematic reform of fisheries in Ukraine. The bills suggest establishing a Fisheries Support Fund, introducing a certificate of fish origin and subsidizing enterprises. This was reported by Yarema Kovaliv, head of the State Agency for Fisheries of Ukraine, during a press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
This year the sate allocated UAH 40 million for the development of fishing industry. To cover all the needs of the industry UAH 140 million is required. The coming Fisheries Support Fund is a special fund in the state budget to provide the industry with UAH 500 million a year. Money to the Fund will come from compensations paid for carrying out activities which may harm fisheries. “This way in 3-5 years the industry itself will generate funds, necessary for the development of its research capacity, populating the waters with biological resources, and protecting the fisheries, spending no funds from the state budget,” – adds Yarema Kovaliv.
About 60% of fish is caught illegally. “To reduce this percentage, we will introduce a certificate of fish origin. […] It will be a modern electronic system, which is not yet present in any other country in Europe. […] We hope that in 2018 we will introduce a pilot version of this reform, and soon every consumer will be able to scan the code and get all the information on the origin of the fish. […] I think, indirectly, it will also affect the food safety”, – notes the head of the State Agency for Fisheries.
The state budget provides UAH 800 million in subsidies for agricultural enterprises. “However, the fishing industry is the only one not covered under this law. […] We started working on a bill to enable fishing enterprises receive subsidies under this law as well “- adds Yarema Kovaliv.
“Ukraine is number one in Europe in terms of the amount of water surface suitable for fish farming. But we make up for less than 1% in the whole agricultural sector. We have a great potential. And these legislative initiatives aim at unleashing this potential “, – stressed the head of the State Agency for Fisheries.
