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WELCOME to STATE of the ENVIRONMENT IN UKRAINE |
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Today the state of the fish industry is first of all determined by the difficult economic situation, which becomes even more complex because of considerable ecological (anthropological) consequences. One of the main causes of detriment to stocks of natural water resources is a
considerable worsening of the water quality. The stable increase of water volumes used for industrial purposes has an effect on the water quality of natural water bodies. During 1998 only, about 19 km3 of water were abstracted, of which 7 km3 of were abstracted irreversibly. A very important problem for the fish industry is the lack of objective information about the stock condition and the distribution of natural water resources. During the last 10 years the financing of necessary scientific research from the national budget has been practically stopped, and as a result such research is now at a very unsatisfactory level. The biological basing of limits for harvesting these resources, which were worked out by the method of extrapolation, are not very reliable. That is why the procedure of setting theoretically substantiated limits for the harvesting of natural water resources is complicated. Among other factors that have a negative impact on the fish industry are: considerable worsening of the economic situation of the majority of the Ukrainian population (unemployment, aggravation of the crime situation, etc.), which leads to a considerable increase of illegal catch volumes and plundering of natural water resources. This concerns most of all valuable industrial species. Organized plundering of fish stocks is taking place; the poachers are well organized and equipped with a good system in terms of catch, sale and information. in artificially created reservoirs - impossibility of valuable complex use of these water bodies because of interest disparities of power engineering specialists, people using the reservoirs for recreational purposes, the fish industry, fishfarm workers, and representatives of other interested branches; insufficient legislation in need of revision. This concerns first of all the problems of stocks of natural water resources, the obtaining and use of quotas for the right to harvest these resources, and also compensation and fines for harm inflicted on these resources and the fish industry, use and exploitation of water industry objects, and activities related to fishing and collective fish industry enterprises. An analysis of the factors that have a negative impact on the fishery, leads to a conclusion about their original cause: global and constantly increasing anthropogenic pressure on water bodies that makes the most perceptible effect in waters and reservoirs as a result of accumulating polluting substances. That is why measures for the improvement of the conditions in the fish industry must be taken and introduced on the basis of a comprehensive scientific analysis of Ukrainian water bodies, and the present condition of the natural water resources. Provisions must be made for foreign investments, chiefly for artificial breeding of natural water bioresources in policulture (following the recommendations of fish industry science, the production of aquaculture can increase common catch by 50-60,000 tons per year). This will lead to a particular decrease of industrial pressure on the natural populations of natural water resources, especially of aboriginal species, and on natural water bodies, which can be reprofiled in the future for amateur and sport fishing. This may be done on the basis of payment. In order to improvement the legislative base in the fish industry the Cabinet of Ministers in 1998 approved a resolution (6 April 1998, No. 449) «On the procedure for payments for special use of fish and other natural resources and the norms of payment for their special use" and «On amateur and sport fishing procedures» (18 July 1998, No. 1126). The Committee of Fishery of Ukraine during this period formulated and carried into
effect an instruction about the procedures for rehabilitation of natural water
bioresources (21 September 1998, No. 126, registered in the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine
on 19 November 1998 by No. 735\3175) and the rules of industrial fishing in the Black Sea
Basin (8 December 1998 No. 164, registered in the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on 9
March 1999 by No. 147\3440). The staff Committee of Fishery of Ukraine has prepared some
other documents, which are now being discussed in the central bodies of executive power. Stocking of natural reservoirs In accordance with the “National Programme of environmental rehabilitation of the Dnieper Basin and improvement of drinking water quality” (adopted by a resolution of the Supreme Council of Ukraine on 27 February 1997), 63.5 million differently aged young individuals of some valuable fish species were in 1998 released into the Dnieper cascade reservoirs, natural and technical reservoirs, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea estuaries: pike-perch - 3.5 million individuals; carp - 7.9 million; pilengas - 6.5 million, sturgeon - 4.9 million; crucian - 4.5 million; flounder - 3.5 million, weight cupid 1 million and trout – 200,000. These projects were conducted by fish breeding complexes, fish commodity industries and collective fish farms.
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