Translated material
Last for fish
The fishing industry was again withdrawn from the Ministry of Agriculture
Less than a month has passed since the new government began its work , and it is already being reformed. Changes have again affected the long-suffering Russian fishery, which has already been reassigned several times in the last five years alone. Dmitry Medvedev’s signature had not yet faded on the decree on the system and structure of the federal executive power of May 12, which spoke of the liquidation of the State Fisheries Committee, the creation of a federal agency and the subordination of the industry to the Ministry of Agriculture, when the president “withdrew” his decision. From May 30, the industry again reports directly to the Prime Minister. True, the committee decided not to revive and retained the agency form. But experts advise fishermen not to get too used to independence - it is likely that this is a temporary measure and in the fall the Ministry of Agriculture will be able to regain the undivided use of the industry.The decision to demote the fishing industry, taken on May 12 this year, seemed logical in the sense of bringing the government structure into a homogeneous state. The State Youth Committee, for example, was remade into the Ministry of Sports, Youth and Tourism. To finally get rid of committees, fisheries were also reformed. Recently, this department is no stranger to various disturbances, and increasingly, fishermen have had to remember the bright Soviet past, when there was an independent Ministry of Fisheries.
In 1991, a fisheries committee was formed under the Ministry of Agriculture. Less than a year later he was promoted to an independent department. Four years later, in August 1996, it was renamed the State Fisheries Committee, retaining its status. But already in March 1997, the committee was liquidated, dividing its functions between the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, where a separate department was created, and the State Committee for Environmental Protection. In August of the same year, the Federal Border Service was entrusted with the protection of aquatic biological resources in the exclusive economic zone. A month later, in September 1997, the State Fisheries Committee was re-established as a separate federal body. It existed longer than all its predecessors - until March 2004. Then the committee was once again abolished , and its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture, the Federal Fisheries Agency and the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance.
Three years later, in September 2007, President Vladimir Putin recreated the State Committee. This happened a month after the State Council meeting dedicated to the development of the fishing industry. Then the specialists were pleased with the attention that the industry finally received, and the appointment of industry representative Andrei Krainiy, director of the Kaliningrad seaport, as head of the committee. But Mr. Krayny’s authority among industry experts was not enough to maintain independence. When forming the structure of the new government in May of this year, the Federal Fisheries Agency was formed, directly subordinate to the Ministry of Agriculture.
It was this decision that caused the greatest discontent among industry representatives. The fishing industry expressed their opinion in an open letter to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. One of the authors of the message, the chairman of the Coordination Council of Fisheries Workers, Vyacheslav Zilanov, categorically expressed no confidence in the authorities, who promised to carry out all the necessary changes without compromising current activities. “All work related to the allocation of fishing areas and the allocation of quotas is at a standstill. They assure us that no, everything will happen within the established time frame. Nothing will pass! We must make every effort not to disrupt the 2008 fishing season,” Mr. Zilanov outlined the point of view of the fishing industry.
Fishermen were not only concerned about the timeliness of obtaining fishing permits this season. In the near future, the department responsible for the industry was to begin allocating quotas for ten years in advance, starting from January 1, 2009.
Of course, fishermen were not least dissatisfied with the downgrading of the industry’s status. “We seem to fall into the zone of the ministry, but in the title itself, fishing is not visible. If you can’t create a Ministry of Fisheries, then rename the Ministry of Agriculture to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry,” said Mr. Zilanov. But with the caveat that the “principled position” of the fishing industry is: “the only body that is capable of managing the industry at the federal level is the ministry.”
It hasn’t come to this yet, but the president clearly heard the calls and last week signed a decree “On the Federal Fisheries Agency.” The name remains the same, but the essence has changed - now the department reports directly to the Prime Minister.
Immediately, assumptions were made that the Minister of Agriculture Alexei Gordeev was personally the initiator of the transfer of the State Fisheries Committee to direct subordination to the prime minister. If so, then most likely this is just a tactical move on the part of one of the most experienced players in the government. It is unlikely that the Minister of Agriculture will so easily let go of one of the most promising industries in every sense. One has only to remember his statements after the last withdrawal of the fishing industry from subordination to the Ministry of Agriculture in September last year. Then Mr. Gordeev said: “The country’s fishery complex remains dear to us in the understanding that we are solving the main task of filling the food basket, food security” - and predicted: such a “management model” (the State Committee) will “not be easy to fit into administrative reform, which was carried out 3.5 years ago.” The hints are very transparent - they say that under our leadership everything will be calmer.
Now is a really busy time in fishing - we need to adopt a whole series of regulations that are necessary both for current work and for the future. First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov recalled this yesterday at the government presidium, who, apparently, even after the next reform, continues to consider himself the curator of the industry, even though it is now directly subordinate to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Mr. Zubkov said that 28 regulations on the development of the fishery complex will be submitted to the Russian government in the near future. These projects were prepared last week at a meeting of the government commission for the development of the fishery complex, then still under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture.
The Ministry of Agriculture could not calculate its strength, and in order not to lose face, Mr. Gordeev decided to give in to the fish lobby. It is likely that at the same time, public opinion, and especially the opinion of the Prime Minister and President, will be prepared for the return of fishing under the wing of the Ministry of Agriculture in the fall. Within the ministry itself, the necessary transformations will still take place for the high-quality “acceptance” of the functions of the federal agency.
Vremya Novostey’s interlocutor Pavel Salin, a leading expert at the Center for Political Conjuncture, also adheres to this version of the further development of events. “The decision to transfer fisheries to the Ministry of Agriculture infringed on the head of the department Andrei Krainiy in his powers. The fish lobby was mobilized, and industry representatives sent a letter to Putin,” says the expert. The government listened, but, in his opinion, “this does not mean that everything will remain the same.” “Mr. Gordeev is also a strong lobbyist; he has long been interested in joining the fishing industry to his ministry,” noted our interlocutor. “Therefore, it is likely that once the quotas are distributed, attempts to regain control of the fishery will resume.”