Government grants broad powers to newly made State Fisheries Committee

The Russian government has granted broad powers to the newly made State Fisheries Committee in fact making it a compact ministry to run the industry at a moment when commitments have been made to speed up reforms and increase efficiency of the sector.

More specifically, the committee has been charged with the powers of the Ministry of Agriculture in the sphere of fishing, onboard processing, research, conservation, reproduction and exploitation of aquatic biological resources. Besides, the committee has been made responsible for control and surveillance of aquatic biological resources and their habitat which has previously been in the powers of Russia's Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance ROSSELKHOZNADZOR operating under the umbrella of the Ministry of Agriculture.

The State Fisheries Committee remains commissioned to render the state services, administer the state property in the sphere of the fishery industry and to do other jobs which have been in the powers of its predecessor Federal Fisheries Agency. The State Fisheries Committee is directly subordinated to the Government of the Russian Federation bypassing the Ministry of Agriculture as was the case with the disbanded Federal Fisheries Agency.

Commenting on the powers of the newly made government body its head Andrey Krainy has noted that, though being more compact, it has all the powers of a ministry which has been long awaited by the industry.

He has added up saying that committee will be supervised by one of the five Vice-Premiers and probably even by Prime-Minister himself.