Branko Vujičić from the "Sveti Nikola" Fishermen's Association from Budva warned that Montenegrin fishing is rapidly declining, and that it could completely disappear in a few years if serious steps are not taken.
"The biggest problem among us fishermen is that we are in disagreement. We have five, six, seven associations and everyone is pulling for their own side... Over ten ministers have changed. We are explaining to everyone from the beginning. If we continue like this, I guarantee that in two, at most three years, fishing in Montenegro will be shut down," Vujičić said on "Boje jutra" on TV Vijesti.
He sees the establishment of a guarantee fund as a key solution.
"We don't need anything for free. But we need someone to stand behind us. If a ship costs 500.000 euros, we give 100.000, and the World Bank returns the rest, but we have no way to close that investment. That's why this guarantee fund needs to exist, to help get started," he pointed out.
Vujičić does not hide his disappointment in the institutional responses either.
"They say they're going to install ice machines and electronic scales, so what should we put them on? On 50-year-old ships? We lack the basics, safe ships, engines, a port, fuel. Without that, everything else is just paper," he pointed out.
He also referred to the announced strike.
"You can't go on strike if we don't have a consensus among fishermen. There isn't one, because there is no unity. And the minister comes to a meeting and talks for two hours about his problems, and we don't even have time to present ours," he said.
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