According to a government decree approved by Prime Minister Putin today, the Russian fish quotas will be extended from today’s five years to ten years, newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta reports. The measure will help stimulate the construction of new fishing vessels, government officials say. With five-year quotas, the industry has been unwilling to invest in the construction of new efficient trawlers. With the ten-year quotas, the industry is believed to get the necessary long-term predictability for their investments. New trawlers cost 30 to 60 million USD and pay off only after 7-8 years, rg.ru reports. Today, a major part of the Russian fleet of fishing vessels is seriously run-down and has a significant fuel consumption. Another advantage with the new regulations might be reduced illegal fishing. According to the Federal Fishery Agency (Rosrybolovstvo), the new quotas will force the industry to thing long-term, and make the trawler owners more interested in protecting the stocks. The quotas will be issued based on careful studies of the companies’ records for the last years, the newspaper writes.
