Start of general fishing ban in Romania

The general spring fishing ban starts on Saturday, April 9, and will last for 60 days in Romanian inland waters, while the ban on fishing in border waters will begin on April 24 and will last 45 days, according to the joint order of the ministers of Agriculture and Environment.

In the Danube Delta, commercial fishermen will only be allowed to catch mackerel, a species whose ban is being phased out on the Danube, but they are complaining about small catches.

"The Delta is clogged and no action is being taken. There are a lot of engines, the pollution is high, the access channels to the Delta are blocked and the fish can no longer reproduce. That is why the catches are so low. (...) Prohibitions are now being issued from offices. Before, the fishery technicians would come and take the water temperature, say that the water had reached 8-9 degrees Celsius and the ban started. In March, we had minus 15 degrees and the prohibition is issued. For what? Not even the frog came out of the bottom of the water. How do we survive with empty nets?" asked Marian C., from Mahmudia.

Lucian Sanda, President of the Federation of Danube Fishermen's Organizations, told AGERPRES that in any European state, fishermen affected by natural resource protection measures or unfavorable weather conditions, such as frost, receive subsidies, but this is impossible in Romania, due to the lack of legislation, among other things.

The general ban on fishing is established every year, by joint order of the two ministries, to protect the fishery resource during the breeding season and the upcoming one.