The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management has installed an automatic station for recording commercial fish catches in the city port of Kalimanj in Tivat.
The station, which contains a catch weighing device, an ice maker, and electronic record-keeping equipment, is located in the eastern part of the city harbor, near the Fažo family's house, in the place where most commercial fishing vessels in Tivat moor.
The Ministry announced that by the end of the year, it is expected that such fish weighing devices, ice machines, and electronic record-keeping equipment will be installed and connected to the infrastructure at ten locations along the Montenegrin coast.
The total value of these devices is 586.850 euros.
It is planned to install three scales in Herceg Novi, two each in Budva and Ulcinj, and one each in Bar, Kotor and Tivat.
Montenegro, as announced by the Ministry, has a total of 46 planned locations for the first landing of fish - docks where fishing vessels are controlled, which have yet to be fully prepared for use. For ten of these locations, the Ministry of Agriculture has already contracted the construction and procurement of equipment through an international tender and a World Bank loan.
Although the electronic scales have been delivered, not all locations have yet received electricity and water connections. Several institutions, which the Government obliged in July last year to provide the necessary infrastructure, have not yet completed their obligations.
"The institutions have not fulfilled their obligations, so the locations have not yet been provided with electricity and water connections. According to the Government's conclusion, this is the obligation of EPCG, CEDIS and local water supply companies. CEDIS conducted an inspection of the field during July and August of this year, so we expect that the conditions for connection will be created by the end of the current year," the Ministry announced.
In cooperation with fishermen and the MIDAS 2 project expert team, the Ministry and the Directorate of Fisheries identified deficiencies in the infrastructure along the coast, so the devices were designed to operate 24 hours a day using renewable energy sources, specifically solar panels with storage batteries.
MIDAS 2 is the second project for institutional development and strengthening of agriculture, implemented with the support of the World Bank. In an international tender, which ended in August 2023, a company was selected to produce ten devices for electronic fish weighing, ice production and electronic record keeping of fishing activities.
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