Bulgaria and Romania agree on joint monitoring of the Black Sea

Equal access should be granted to Bulgaria and Romania to common European waters for fishing, regardless of the fact whether fishermen are checked by Romanian or Bulgarian authorities, negotiated the fishery agencies of the two neighbouring countries and the European Commission during a meeting in Varna. It was initiated by the branch fishery organisation Black Sea Sunrise Association and organised in cooperation with the Executive Agency for Fisheries and Aquaculture (EAFA). Representatives of the Border Police of the two countries and branch fishery organisations proposed that the same type of inspections be conducted and the same type of documents required. They also spoke on combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities and on the rights and obligations of the administrations of EU member-states and fishermen. They also raised the question of overfishing carried out by Turkey. Bulgaria and Romania are currently operating on a quota principle, while Turkey is not. EC representatives stated that talks are being held with Turkey with respect to overfishing.

Statistics are being drawn up on the number of dolphins in the Black Sea, announced the CEO of EAFA, Dragomir Gospodinov during the meeting. The Institute for Fishery Resources will be commissioned to implement the census of marine mammals and, afterwards, it will seek compensation for Bulgarian fishermen regarding the damages inflicted on fishing nets by the dolphins, especially to pound nets. For now, the experts proposed that devices performing echolocation be mounted. These frighten and chase away the dolphins. Gospodinov added that Bulgarian fishermen are still afraid to fish beyond the 12-mile nautical zone along the Romanian coast.

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