POLISH FISHING INDUSTRY: THE HAPPY UNEMPLOYED

UNCLAS WARSAW 001273 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/NCE: TARA ERATH AND MICHAEL SESSUMS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIS ECON PL EU SUBJECT: POLISH FISHING INDUSTRY: THE HAPPY UNEMPLOYED ¶1. Per EU requirements, Poland is in the middle of restructuring its Baltic fishing fleet to meet EU requirements. Part of that process includes the reduction of the fleet by scrapping vessels and compensating the vessel owners and operators. The Restructuring Agency responsible for implementing this system has approved agreements to scrap 183 Polish fishing vessels and compensate 1,000 fishermen who worked on those vessels. On average, each vessel owner receives 1 million zloty ($333,000) while each fisherman that worked on a scrapped vessel receives 10,000 EUR ($13,000). European Union structural funds pay for 75% of the program cost, while the state budget pays the other 25%. ¶2. The Deputy Director of the Fisheries Department in the Ministry of Agriculture, Lech Kempczynski, said that the scrapping program is extremely popular among Polish fisherman. The Restructuring Agency, which he chairs, received over 260 applications to scrap boats. He believes that the agency is effectively striking a balance between thinning the fishing fleet and permanently damaging Poland's fishing industry. ¶3. Shortly after the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia, Polish media reported that some of these scrapped boats would be transferred to the affected areas to provide replacement vessels for those lost in the catastrophe. Kempczynski said that, while this was a noble idea and good politically, the scrapped vessels were instead being destroyed. He said that the cost of refitting the Baltic- Sea vessels to operate in warm water was prohibitive. ¶4. Poland's entry into the EU also requires the country's fishing industry to conform to EU quotas. Kempczynski described the procedure whereby the quotas are established as a give-and-take process where none of the parties come out completely satisfied. In general, however, he said that of the quotas for Baltic fish, Polish fishermen only roundly criticize the one for cod. Under the EU quota, Poland can harvest 14,000 tons of cod, whereas they previously operated under a quota of 16,000 tons. The other main species harvested in the Baltic are herring, sprout, and salmon. Ashe NNNN 2005WARSAW01273 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED