The land under the lake belongs to the owner, but the fishing rights to the country?

Following the current legislation, three types of water bodies exist in Latvia:

• Public waters (Annex 1 to the Civil Law), which are owned by the State and in which the fishing rights are owned by the State. In Rezekne's municipality, the public lakes are Chernoste, Dziļuta, Feimaņu, Islepoles, Ismera-Zogotu, Kaunatas, Luban, Meuran, Pušas, Razna, Rushon, Salai, Tiskad, Viraudas (Lendžu parish), Virtune and Zosnas.
• Waters in which the fishing rights are owned by the State (Annex 2 to the Civil Law) - land under water bodies is owned by the owner, but the fishing rights are owned by the State. The lakes of Rēzekne are Adamowa, Biža, Ilsa, Ismer, Caugar, Laborary, Great Cour, Micane, Partova, Sedzera, Solorer, Stiebria, Holy, Umau, Viraudas (Mākoņkalna civil parish).
• Private lakes - lakes where both land and fishing rights are owned by the owner of the waters and are used in accordance with the laws and regulations in force.

This week, with media intermediation, the Rezekne municipality, one of the owners of the Lake of Partova, sought clarification why the owners of the lake were not entitled to industrial fishing rights.

In accordance with legislation, the fishing rights are owned by the State. The lake is located IN THE parish OF Kaunatas and has a total area of 83.4 ha. According to publicly available data, the Lake Partova is owned by 16 owners and 15 owners land the land on the lake.

According to Section 3.11 of Cabinet Regulation No. 796 of 23 December 2014, Regulations Regarding the Limitations of Industrial fishing and the procedures for utilisation thereof in inland waters, the limit of fishing nets in the lake is 75 metres. In 2019, the merchant applied for commercial fishing in the Partova Lake and took out all available limits. Industrial fishing rights leases in Rēzekne municipality are closed for five years in accordance with legislation. This means that a free fishing net limit will not be available until the end of 2024. The owners who own the land under the lake are not aware of why the municipality of Rezekne prefers the merchant rather than the land owners. To draw attention to the fact that, in accordance WITH Paragraph 20 of CABINET Regulation No. 790 of 13 December 2016, “Regulations on the use of fishing rights in private waters”, “in private waters where fishing rights are owned by the State in accordance with Annexes II and III to the Civil Law, landlord owners shall prevail in the lease of industrial fishing rights, where industrial fishing rights are not found in these waters by local fishermen engaged in commercial fishing. '

In order to satisfy the willingness of all owners to carry out self-consumption fishing in the Partova Lake, the limit of fishing nets should be increased from 75 metres to 930 metres (30 metres minimum fishing limit multiplied by 31 owners (15 owners holding land under water and 16 owners holding a coastline)). However, in view of the legislation, if the free limit is applied for by a commercial fishing operator, he will have a preference. And there is a possibility that this commercial fishing operator will want to obtain the limits of all free fishing nets. In addition, the increase in network limits should be scientifically justified and not based on the number of owners.

In Latgale's regional television series, there was a concern that this time merchant would have taken all big fish and fishermen only in small. In 2014, the municipality, together with the National Fish Fund in Partova Lake, released 8300 zandars juveniles, placing 8300 zandars juveniles in 2016. Also this year, a project application has been submitted to the National Fish Fund for the introduction of juvenile juveniles, so there is no basis for the absence of fish in the lake.

In agreement with the owners and the public, the municipality sees the possibility of proposing changes to existing legislation, that is to say, to ban industrial fishing in the Partova Lake. In such a case, it would be possible for all interested parties to be fished by buying a fisherman's card. Any amendments to the legislation have already been negotiated with the Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Agriculture. It should be noted that in such a case, the local government will not be so motivated to regularly rebuild fish resources in the lake.

We're ready to get involved and search for the best solutions. The municipality is open to cooperation with all stakeholders to promote the development and rational use of both the Partova Lake and other Rēzekne.

Klinta Berzins,
Senior Environmental Protection Officer of the municipality of Rezekne