Greater transparency will benefi t the fi shery

Estonia has an inland water fishery concentrated on the lakes Võrtsjärv, Peipsi and Lämmijärv. The latter two lakes are connected to each other and form a transboundary water body shared with Russia. The total inland fisheries catch in 2021 was 2,700 tonnes, the vast majority of which comes from Peipsi and Lämmijärv. The main species caught in Peipsi and Lämmijärv are pikeperch, perch and bream together with smaller volumes of roach, while in Võrtsjärv the catch is primarily bream, pikeperch, and pike as well as eel.

The gear used are trap nets (mainly bream, eel, and pike) and gill nets (mainly pikeperch). In Peipsi and Lämmijärv the main gear used are also gill nets and trap nets of different kinds. Danish seines and pound nets are also used mainly for perch and vendace respectively.

On Võrtsjärv the number of fishing permits issued over the decade ending 2020 increased 43 to 63. In contrast, the number of fishers on Peipsi and Lämmijärv fell by over 40 over the same period from 406 to 238.

Branded fish from Peipsi lake sold through dedicated shops

Processing companies on Lake Peipsi are organised into a producer organisation (PO), Peipsi Kalandusühistu. The PO is headed by Margus Narusing, who also owns the company OÜ Latikas, a processor of freshwater fish. The company is the biggest member of the producer organisation. The PO is located at the port of Mehikoorma on Lake Peipsi where it has reception facilities for the fish landed and a cold store. The PO sells the fish caught by its members under its own brand and has opened dedicated shops in Tartu and Tallinn to sell the fish caught by its members.

The main activity of the company is to catch and process fish into fillets, and other cuts, steaks, portions, whole fish head on or head off, as well as smoked items, and delicatessen products. The waste from the processing operation, heads, guts, tails, fins, backbones, etc., are frozen and transported to Latvia, where it is used to feed animals bred for their fur, such as mink. The main species targeted are bream, perch, pikeperch, and pike with annual volumes ranging from 150-200 tonnes of bream, 50 tonnes of perch, 30-40 tonnes of pikeperch, and 10-15 tonnes of pike. There are also small catches of burbot and roach.

Most of the fish is sold whole, fresh, but if the catches are too large or there is little demand for fresh fish then it is frozen or further processed into cuts or smoked pieces. Frozen bream, however, is the product that sells most. The catch is sold through the supermarket chain, Coop, through fresh food markets, and through the PO’s own stores. These stores do not only sell the PO’s products, but also other fish, such as Arctic charr farmed in Poland and processed at the PO’s facility, and wild-caught eel. The catching season is in spring, summer, and autumn, and during the winter catches depend on whether the lakes are frozen over or not.

But, in general, if the catches are good then all this fish is available throughout the year either fresh or frozen, Mr Narusing confirms. Most of the fish stocks are managed with quotas. But this (2023) is the first year where Mr Narusing expects the quotas to last until the end of the year. In the past they tended to be used up by September or October. The difference is the catching regime: until 2022 fishing followed an Olympic system where fishers competed against each other catching as much as they could until the quota was filled. From 1 January 2023 this system will be replaced by individual quotas. Fishers can distribute their catches to ensure they have fresh fish all the year round. Mr Narusing feels the change is positive and will result in a certain stability to the activity. The Olympic method meant that at the start of the year fishers would set out on the lake as fast as possible with all their capacity to catch as much fish as fast as possible. This resulted in the quota being filled already before the end of the year and the fish having to be frozen. The frozen product was fine if it was to be further prepared or preserved—smoked, dried, marinated etc.—but customers preferred fresh fish if they were to prepare it themselves; the frozen product tasted different.

Individual quotas should create a level playing field for all fishers

The Olympic system divided the processor and the fishers in the sense that processors disliked the system for the lack of stable catches and the need to freeze fish, while fishers appreciated it. Mr Narusing’s company, Latikas, both employs people to fish and signs contracts with independent fishers. Other fishers operating in the lake catch and sell fish to other companies. The change in system will mean that there is greater monitoring and control of the fishing activity which is likely to become more transparent as a result. Not all fishers consider this an advantage which is why some fishers prefer the Olympic catching system. For Latikas, apart from the greater stability that an individual quota system brings, the greater transparency from such a system means that all fishers operate on a level playing field. The total allowable catch

(TAC) for the lake is divided into individual quotas for the fishers including those that are employed by Latikas. The company is aware of the quotas owned by the fishers it employs and calculates on getting that volume of raw material for its production. The fishers have a certain number of gear which determines the quotas they are allocated of the different species. With some gears more than one species can be caught, while other gears are intended to catch a specific species.

The fishers are equipped with a log book in which they record their catches. Before landing the fisher has to inform the Environmental Board which may send an inspector to check the catches and ensure they tally with the logbook records.

However, not every landing is inspected so there is some scope for misreporting of catches. The fisher also takes a photo of the log book and sends it to Latikas, so that the company knows the size and composition of the catch that is coming in. The production manager then enters the information from the log book image into the official catch register. In the second half of 2023 an electronic reporting system will be introduced, and fishers will be able to use their mobile phones to report their catches. The company works with fishers who catch under the company’s fishing permits of which it owns 20 or 25. These fishers are obliged to sell the fish they catch to the company. Fishers who have their own permits also sell to the company, but they are also free to sell to anybody else.

At -5 degrees the cold store was a decidedly more pleasant temperature than the outside, where it was -16!

There are about one hundred companies of different sizes fishing in Lake Peipsi. A company can have several fishing permits and behind a fishing permit there may be a whole team of fishers. In 2022 there were 90 fishing permits and 300 fishers. The permits give fishers the right to fish when it is allowed to fish, that is, when there is unfulfilled quota. The permit also identifies the gear the fisher can use, which the fisher himself chooses as he might prefer one type of gear over another.

The fishers working for Latikas are generally all in their 50s. The number of fishers on the lake is declining, says Mr Narusing—the work is hard and it puts off young people. So there are fewer fishers in each generation. When they stop or retire they sell their permits or more seldom pass it on to the next generation.

Initiatives regarding an auction, warehouse, and wholesale centre under consideration

There are 9 processing companies working with raw material sourced from the lake, which are members of the producer organisation, Peipsi Kalandusühistu, to which Latikas also belongs. But each of the companies also has its own processing unit. The PO’s role is to facilitate sales by providing the volumes and the products that make it interesting for companies in the next link of the value chain. However, at Latikas only half the production is sold through the PO, the other half is sold directly to customers or exported (mainly to Romania, Georgia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan). The PO offers stability, says Mr Narusing, which is an advantage for the business. In addition to the fish shops that the PO opened a couple of years ago it also has a mobile fish shop that sells products from the lake to customers spread over a wide area. This helps popularise locally-caught fish in the area and encourages people to buy fresh product. In the future the PO plans to build a common warehouse where the frozen fish can be stored and a common wholesale centre which will take care of the clients who buy small quantities so that the member companies are spared from having to deal with the paperwork that goes with these small orders. The PO is also considering an internet-based auction to sell fish on its own behalf and on behalf of the companies to a wider range of buyers both nationally and internationally. Another initiative being considered by the PO is to invest in their own trucks to transport the fish. If all these plans are implemented Peipsi Kalandusühistu will be a very different organisation in three or four years.

Owner: Mr Margus Narusing

Species: Bream, perch, pikeperch, pike, other locally caught freshwater species

Products form: Whole, gutted, fillets, steaks, portions

Processing type: Fresh, frozen, smoked, fried