The Croatian fishermen's guild within the Croatian Chamber of Crafts on Friday began a two-day conference on the adjustment of Croatian fisheries to the European Union standards and on fishermen's insistence on the full application of the Ecological and Fisheries Protection Zone (ZERP).
In his keynote speech at the start of the conference in the southern coastal town of Brela, Croatian Minister of Maritime Affairs, Tourism and Development, Božidar Kalmeta, said "to change the relevant legislation has not become an end in itself, and this serves as a basis for enabling ZERP to be in effect also for ships from EU member-states as soon as possible."
However, the parliament and the government as well as our diplomats need some time (to enable the ZERP implementation), as each decision regarding ZERP has international weight and connotations, all of which requires good preparations, the minister said.
Kalmeta's speech was met with strong disapproval from the gathered fishermen who insisted on the immediate implementation of ZERP, in any way before the opening of negotiations with the European Union.
In response to their insistence, the minister said he could not say when this would happen but that all efforts were being taken so as to have ZERP in place as soon as possible.
He called on the fishermen to remain in the national negotiating team and join in efforts to elaborate the Croatian negotiating platform thus contributing to the protection of their own interests.
He informed them that efforts are being taken to proclaim the Adriatic Sea as a specifically sensitive area with the ban on the exchange of ballast waters.
He recalled that the Ivo Sanader Cabinet ensured one-off assistance of 218 million kuna for the modernization of the fishing fleet. This year, four new ships have been built, and another five have been commissioned. There are plans for an additional seven new ships, according to the minister.
The guild's chief, Tonči Bozanić, said that fishermen insisted on the ZERP implementation before the start of negotiations with the EU since Croatian fishermen had been so far in a less favorable position than their colleagues from the neighboring countries. This is why Croatia is losing hundreds of million of kuna, he said.
During the two-day event, experts from Greece and Malta will inform Croatian fishermen about the experiences of their countries from the process of adjustment of the fisheries legislation to the EU standards and from the accession negotiations on the topic.