Russia’s Federal Fisheries Agency revokes contracts with inefficient capture quota holders

In 2011 Russia's Federal Fisheries Agency acting under the provisions of the Federal Law on Fishery has revoked 287 contracts with holders of capture quota shares, of which 226 were revoked on a voluntary basis and 61 under court decision, reports http://www.megafishnet.com/.

In the course of analysis of quota exploitation the Agency discovered 607 contracts to be revoked due to holders' failure to cover the quotas at least at 50%. For the remaining 337 contracts claims were registered at court.

The worst harvesters concentrated under the jurisdiction of the Agency's Northeast Territorial Department, which revoked 80 contracts out of 222 subject to abrogation. The Sakhalin-Kurile Department revoked 63 out of 161 contracts and Primorye Department (based in Vladivostok) - 60 out of 117.

Exempt quota shares are subject to auction where 49 shares have already been sold to 15 holders. According to the Agency's PR Head Alexander Saveljev, confiscation of quota shares from inefficient users and their sale at auction encourage the nation's fishing companies work better by exploiting more of their quotas.

Judging by expert estimates, from 10% to 20% of capture quota shares belong to those users who do not have own vessels or onshore fishing gear. They used to rent their shares to other users thus avoiding the need to build up own production facilities and forming a rentier class.

In 2011 the Fisheries Agency also signed 1368 quota shares agreements with 176 companies due to their reorganization.