Collapse of Political and Economical System as a Cause for Instability in Fisheries Sector: An Estonian Case

The transition process from the Soviet economical system to the market economy in fisheries has received relatively little attention from fisheries researchers. This study analyze how overall changes in political and economical life of Estonia during the last decade have affected the complex system of the environmental, economic, social and legal issues connected to the coastal fishery of the Baltic Sea. At the beginning of the nineties the possibility to export fish to the European market appeared. Opening of this new and highly profitable market outlet resulted in rapidly increasing pressure to the fish resources, both in terms of the number of fishermen and in their effort. Some of the most important coastal fishery resources have been over-fished because of high export market demand coupled with insufficient resource management, and not effective enough control and enforcement capacity. The costs connected to fishery have grown much more than the first buyer prices. Additionally, dynamic development of the Estonian economy has yielded in substantial increase of wages in other sectors of economy and therefore the well-being of fishermen has steadily worsened. This has resulted in increasing social problems. The conclusion is that countries in transition may encounter serious difficulties in the fishery sector arising from privatization and rearrangement of financial system, which may affect the fishery even years after the establishment of new ruling principles

Seasonal depth distribution and thermal experience of the non-indigenous round goby Neogobius melanostomus in the Baltic Sea: implications to key trophic relations

Native to the Ponto-Caspian region, the benthic round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) has invaded several European inland waterbodies as well as the North American Great Lakes and the Baltic Sea. The species is capable of reaching very high densities in the invaded ecosystems, with not only evidence for significant food-web effects on the native biota and habitats, but also negative implications to coastal fishers. Although generally considered a coastal species, it has been shown that round goby migrate to deeper areas of the Great Lakes and other inland lakes during the cold season. Such seasonal movements may create new spatio-temporal ecosystem consequences in invaded systems. To seek evidence for seasonal depth distribution in coastal marine habitats, we compiled all available catch data for round goby in the Baltic Sea since its invasion and until 2017. We furthermore related the depths at capture for each season with the ambient thermal environment. The round goby spend autumn and winter at significantly deeper and offshore areas compared to spring and summer months; few fish were captured at depths 25 m. The thermal conditions at which round goby were caught varied significantly between seasons, being on average 18.3 °C during summer, and dropping to a low 3.8 °C during winter months. Overall, the fish sought the depths within each season with the highest possible temperatures. The spatial distribution of the round goby substantially overlaps with that of its main and preferred prey (mussels) and with that of its competitor for food (flatfish), but only moderately with the coastal predatory fish (perch), indicating thereby very complex trophic interactions associated with this invasion. Further investigations should aim at quantifying the food web consequences and coupling effects between different habitats related to seasonal migrations of the round goby, both in terms of the species as a competitor, predator and prey

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The transition from the Soviet system to a market economy as a cause of instability in the Estonian coastal fisheries sector

This study analyzes how overall changes in political and economic life during the last decade have affected the Estonian coastal fishery of the Baltic Sea. At the beginning of the nineties, the opportunity to export fish to the European market emerged. Opening of this new market resulted in rapidly increasing pressure on fish stocks. Some of the most important coastal fishery resources were over-fished because of high export market demand coupled with insufficient resource management and ineffective control and enforcement mechanisms. The costs associated with fishery have grown much more than the first-buyer prices. Additionally, dynamic development of the Estonian economy has resulted in substantial increases in earnings in other economic sectors and therefore the relative wealth of fishermen has steadily declined. This has resulted in increasing social problems. In conclusion, countries in transition may encounter serious difficulties in the fisheries sector, arising from privatization and economic reforms, which may affect the fisheries even years after the establishment of new ruling principles.Estonia Coastal fisheries Fisheries development Trade liberalization Transition to market economy