Farmers and hunters are no longer the only ones who speak loudly about their problems. Fishermen also speak in the same voice. Their representatives also join the strike on March 6.
Coastal fishermen are also joining farmers protesting across the country. As they argue, the situation is tragic.
What demands do fishermen have?
In a letter addressed to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, the representatives emphasize that the industry is in a tragic situation and present three main demands:
- Fishermen currently need security for their fishing activities as shipowners and active fishermen. We need a three-year conservation program that will stop predatory forage fishing and protect coastal fisheries. Feed fleet 12 miles from the shore and protection of the Bay of Gdańsk, a breeding ground for fish.
- Secure financial resources for carrying out this program by placing the amount of EUR 315 million in axis 1 (Fisheries) in measure 1.9 (Intervention mechanism in fisheries), which will allow for real and flexible support for the Polish fishing fleet. Of course, it must be emphasized that the Vistula Spit, or other bays in our water area, part of the Baltic Sea, were also affected by the predatory management of the pelagic (feed) fleet by the degradation of fish resources and the destruction of the ecosystem in our zone of the Baltic Sea.
- Separate producer groups from decision-making in coastal fisheries. Protect the fishing fund against theft by those groups that have also used the fishing fund for many years, where they have their fund in the 2021-2027 program.
As fishermen emphasize, there are many more demands. Standardizing parking rates is also very important for their industry.
The parking rates proposed by the Department of Fisheries are unacceptable, as they will later result in losses in parking settlements. The department is doing this deliberately in order to further destroy coastal fisheries, they wrote in their letter.
Coastal fishing is dying
The Polish Fisheries Crisis Staff and the Association of Polish Coastal Fishermen have decided to join the farmers’ strike and will also appear in Warsaw on March 6.
We have one common price, common land. In a moment they will introduce us to the Blue Deal, modeled on the Green Deal. This will destroy our industry, which is already in a terrible condition – says Teresa Lukszteło, a representative of fishermen. – The ministry doesn’t take us seriously. Neither this nor the previous one. With you, with farmers, we can fight for ourselves – he adds.
– .
