On Monday, March 24th, Minister of Agriculture Armands Krauze will participate in the European Union (EU) Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting, where ministers from the member states will debate the European Commission's (EC) vision for the future of agriculture and food policy. They will also discuss the issue raised by Latvia and Lithuania regarding the conditions applied to unsegregated pelagic fishing.
On February 19, the EC published a conceptual vision for the future of EU agriculture and food, outlining it as an attractive and predictable sector with fair incomes, accessible technologies, strong producer positions in the food chain, affordable local food prices, and a sufficiently high standard of living. Member state ministers will express their opinions on this vision.
Following a broad public consultation, the EC’s vision will serve as the basis for regulatory frameworks in the next planning period of the Common Agricultural Policy, setting requirements for agriculture, support conditions, and more. The future vision emphasizes the importance of respecting regional conditions and simplifying policies, which is particularly significant from Latvia’s perspective.
Furthermore, Latvia and Lithuania have repeatedly submitted for discussion the issue of the new approach to fishing, which came into effect on July 10th, 2024. According to this regulation, a captain of a fishing vessel must record in the fishing log the visually estimated catch quantity and composition before entering the port, specifying the approximate weight of each species. This requirement applies to herring and sprat catches, which are not sorted on board and often contain small bycatches of species such as the stickleback, fourhorn sculpin, Baltic herring, sand eel, round goby, and others that do not require special protection. The margin of error for each species in the Baltic Sea is set at 20%, but in practice, it is impossible to ensure the required accuracy when estimating quantities at sea compared to the actual weight recorded upon landing on the shore. If a fisherman makes an error, they are considered in violation of the regulation. If the discrepancy exceeds 25%, it is classified as a serious offense subject to all corresponding penalties. Therefore, Latvia and Lithuania are demanding that the EC urgently address this issue.
In Brussels, Armands Krauze will also meet with the EU Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis, to discuss the future of the Common Fisheries Policy and the necessary simplifications, as well as the impact of the current geopolitical situation on fish stocks in the Baltic Sea. The minister also intends to discuss with the commissioner Latvia’s repeated proposal regarding import tariffs or restrictions on fishery products from Russia and Belarus.