Coastal fisher plans to invest in processing to earn more from the catch

pandemic had already begun to push up prices for raw materials, a situation that has become worse with the war in Ukraine, sky high energy prices, and much higher inflation. Mr Kushnerchuk has had no choice but to increase the price of Gamma-A’s products as well, as the cost of inputs has become much higher. I have had to increase the prices of our products six times over the last 12 months, which has never been the case before, he says. This also makes to difficult to fulfil supermarket contracts which have clauses to prevent price hikes without adequate warning. Gamma-A is now selling much less to supermarkets in Latvia than it used to as it cannot comply with these terms. The steeper prices also pertain to the cost of freight which has gone up fourfold. I cannot increase the prices of my cans by a factor of four, says Mr Kushnerchuk, who hopes that prices will start falling soon. Meanwhile, he is looking at alternative sources of energy such as propane instead of liquified natural gas and solar panels instead of electricity from the grid. But these are measures that will take preparation and cannot be implemented overnight. The coming weeks are likely to be tough ones for Gamma-A.

Gamma-A Ltd

Traleru str. 30 Riga LV-1030 Latvia

Tel.: +371 6 7615142 Fax: +371 6 7353889 info@gamma-a.lv www.gamma-a.lv

Export sales director: Igor Kushnerchuk

Vessels: Five, of which two are smaller and used only in the

Gulf of Riga, two others are used both in the Gulf of Riga and the Baltic Sea, and one large vessel. Packaging: Cans, jars Species: Sprats, herring, saury, mackerel, sardines, tuna, cod liver Products: Smoked sprats and herring in different oils/ sauces; other species canned in different sauces Markets: About 46 countries spread over Europe, North

America, Asia, Africa, Australia

Coastal fisher plans to invest in processing to earn more from the catch

Using traditional traps to target lamprey

The river lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis) is a delicacy in Latvia, where it is prepared in different ways. The unit price is higher than that of most species caught along the coast, because production volumes are modest. In the five years to 2020, FAO statistics show that annual catches of river lamprey in Latvia have averaged 61 tonnes with production varying between 92 tonnes (2019) and 44 tonnes (2018).

Lampreys stem from a line of ancient jawless vertebrates and have been exploited by humans for centuries. Although the Lamprey catch in Latvia is not large it is one of the most important species for the coastal and inland fishery. At the same time the animal is an endangered species protected by EU as well as other national and international legislation.

Fishing for lamprey is done with special gears and only from August to February. But of these six months, the real fishing time is perhaps two months because the fishing depends on the conditions in and around the water.

Lack of rain in the autumn has affected water levels

This fall, due to the lack of rain, the water level is low and there are a lot of leaves, so conditions are not ideal. There are no restrictions on the volume that the fishers catch as stocks are healthy. The amount of fish in the river has remained largely stable with fluctuations from year to year but with no appreciable trend either up or down. Nikolajs Koluškins, a coastal fisher, who together with his wife, Inese Koluškina, has established a company J.A.N.K.I., confirms that the lamprey stock is doing well. He says he has Nikolajs Koluškins and Inese Koluškina, coastal fishers from Salacgr va.

seen numerous lamprey larvae in the water, so he is confident that the resource is in good shape. Lamprey is anadromous, spending adulthood in the sea and returning to freshwater to spawn. There is one place on the tributary where Mr Koluškins is permitted to fish and this place is exclusively his. In addition, he, like the other coastal fishers, has an annual contract with the local municipality that determines what and when he can catch. In the Salacas river there are three places where he catches lamprey, but in the tributary, there is but a single spot and he is the only fisher. Yields of lamprey have been low but fairly stable over the last few years and he supplements his income by fishing for other coastal species as well. Lamprey catches are also influenced by the lunar cycle as they dislike light. Around the time the moon is full they do not enter the tributary as there is no way to hide from the glare in the shallow water. In the Salacas river this is not an issue as the deeper water allows the lamprey to avoid the light.

Particular kind of fishing gear used to catch lamprey (and other species)

Among the methods used to catch the fish is the traditional fish trap, which is a conical structure with two lateral wings attached to the wide end of the cone. The net is attached to a bridge-like construction a few metres long that extends from one bank to the other across the tributary. The trap blocks two thirds of the width of the river, while the last third remains open in accordance with legal requirements. In olden times the trap was made of wood and involved two narrow wooden barriers which were used to block the passage of the water thereby lifting the level and forcing it to flow between the barriers and through a net placed between them. Any fish carried by the water are trapped in the net. The mouth of the tributary, where Mr Koluškins fixes his trap, is relatively small and is surrounded by forest. In the fall, therefore, the river fills up with leaves. This slows down the fishing operation as the leaves clog the nets and must be removed constantly. On a recent October day Mr Koluškins spent several hours fishing, but the catch only amounted to a couple of kilos and most of the time was spent clearing leaves from the net. Lampreys apparently also dislike the leaves as they change the taste of the water, so they will try and avoid stretches of water that contain a lot of fallen leaves.

In cold winters the water can freeze and then fishers cut holes in the ice and through them drop a special gear to trap lamprey. The bridge-like construction that supports the conical net is usually dismantled in winter to protect it from ice formation. If the winter is a cold enough for the water to freeze, it can do a lot of damage to the bridge. When the spring returns the bridge is re-assembled. The river used to be navigable for small vessels, but today, the combination of silt and the low water levels resulting from poor precipitation mean that with the right clothing the river can be forded on foot.

Adding value to the catch requires space for a processing plant

He is considering adding value to his catches but needs to first

The trap used to catch lamprey has a conical body and two wings that are attached to a bridge-like structure that blocks two thirds of the width of the tributary, where Mr Koluškins fishes.

find a space for a small processing facility. Once that is resolved he and his wife will start making processed products with the catch. Lamprey is a relatively expensive species compared with other fish and the processed product tends to be sold around Christmas and New Year though it is also available at other times of the year at the big fresh food market in Riga. Lampreys are smoked, grilled, marinated, or preserved in jelly. In Salacgr va there is a lamprey festival in October, where it will be prepared in different ways including fish soups, paté, and pastries, to promote the animal. There is usually also an aquarium with live lamprey to show people, especially children, what it looks like. While lamprey catches have been more or less predictable, coastal fishers face challenges from other sources. Seals are perhaps the most serious. These predators damage fishing gear and caught fish, they reduce catches by taking fish from the gear and fishing grounds as well as by causing changes in fish stocks and behaviour. They carry parasites that have an impact, for example, on cod. They also bring about an increase in the workload and raise the operational costs of fishing. Mr Koluškins has first-hand experience of the damage wrought by seals. After a recent fishing operation spread over two days, he only had a couple of flatfish remaining as seals had eaten or damaged the rest of the catch. Not content with attacking gear laid on the coast, seals are also going up the rivers to plunder gear laid there. He feels that seals are far from endangered any longer, in fact they are now the danger, a change that has come about in a relatively short span of years.

Nikolajs Koluškins and Inese Koluškina

IK J.A.N.K.I. T ruma street 6, Salacgr va LV-4033 Latvia

+371 29417413 Activity: Coastal fishers Species targeted: Lamprey, herring, round goby, flounder, salmon, smelt, vimba, perch Gear used: Traps