Fishermen are considering returning their licenses, announcing protests because the Ministry has not solved their problems

The National Association of Fish Producers is considering gathering fishermen in front of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management building and returning their fishing licenses together, because they are still operating with the same problems, they do not have moorings for ships, a fishing port, sanitary conditions, the first landing of fish, inspection supervision...

This was told to "Vijesti" by a representative of 178 fishermen and the president of this association. Savo Ćetković.

The association and a number of fishermen planned to block sea traffic in the Bay of Kotor at the end of August last year due to difficult working conditions, but they abandoned this after the Ministry of Agriculture invited them to a meeting. The traffic suspension did not take place because at the meeting in early September it was agreed to form a working group of representatives of the ministries of maritime affairs, finance, economic development and the Coastal Zone, which was supposed to solve their problems.

Ćetković emphasized that they are still waiting for the working group to start working, but that they are in the worst situation so far and that they are running out of patience for "meetings and empty talk."

"We are considering how to express our dissatisfaction, one way is through the media and public information, and another, which is very possible, and will be disastrous for both the state and us, is for all or most of us to gather in front of the Ministry of Agriculture and return our fishing licenses, because we cannot engage in commercial fishing, so we will switch to sport fishing. And the reasons are as follows, we do not have an official berth or port, which is the basis for carrying out the activity, we do not have sanitary conditions, there is no first landing of fish on the shore, there is no inspection supervision, there is not a single element that would allow us to carry out our activity regularly...", he emphasized.

Ćetković emphasized that they do their job legally and that they want the activity to be protected, as well as the tradition, culture and sea of ​​Montenegro. He stated that fishermen have never been more united and that they will show it soon, because they are increasingly affected by the increase in fuel prices, and that this is already a serious problem for the survival of their colleagues in Croatia and Italy.

Ćetković added that he hopes that the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) will complete its work and return the "Lazure" port in Meljine to the state and fishermen.

Local fishermen in Herceg Novi have been seeking permits to moor ships in the "Lazure" port for years and claim that the investor "Imperio Holding Limited" did not honor the contract with the Coastal Zone, that is, did not build a fishing port and provide them with at least 116 berths, which is why they submitted the case to the SDT in 2021.

In May 2024, the Lazure marina told Vijesti that they fully respect the laws of Montenegro and that they cooperate closely with all state institutions, and that the project respected local fishermen who were satisfied with the conditions in the marina. The fishermen then stated that the investor respected the laws, but not the concession agreement for the local marina.

"We continue to fight and many more people are now involved in our work. The tourist season is coming when we all need to earn money and we have to reduce or completely give up our activities due to the inability to access the coast and overloaded nautical traffic and anchoring, our equipment is being destroyed every day and great damage is being done to us and the sea, that is, to marine organisms," Ćetković emphasized.

Since the middle of last year, the association and other fishermen have been actively seeking greater support from the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as the construction of a port for docking and mooring ships, as Montenegro currently does not have one. They have previously also requested space for loading and storing heavy equipment, a lower VAT rate of seven percent on the import of equipment and vessels, the establishment of a guarantee fund, with compensation of at least 10 percent of revenue from fees collected from cruisers and speedboats...

Although Montenegro temporarily closed the negotiation chapter 13 - Fisheries with the European Union at the end of last year, fishermen have repeatedly told "Vijesti" that they are not even close to being ready for that market and competition. They also announced that upon joining the EU, most of them will give up this business and switch to taking tourists, because the requirements there are minimal.