Ukrainian fishermen face complete loss of the Sea of Azov for fishing
Tens of thousands of people on the Ukrainian side risk losing their jobs if the agreement between Russia and Ukraine on the joint use of the Sea of Azov is broken.
The head of the Association of Fishing Enterprises, Andrey Chuklin, announced this during a roundtable discussion in Kyiv, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
According to him, tens of thousands of residents of the Azov region, whose activities are related to fishing, may be left without work.
“Without signing an agreement for the next year on the distribution of limits, each country will set its own limits in those squares that it deems necessary. Having a power advantage, we will simply be thrown out of the fishery. We will remain only conditionally in the coastal part of the Azov Sea. At the same time, we must understand that today there are more than 40 units of medium-tonnage vessels left on the Ukrainian part. This is at least 400 ship crews alone.
Plus service personnel, plus coastal processing enterprises. As a result, these are several tens of thousands of people, whom we must understand that in the Azov region will need to be occupied with something, some kind of work. I think this will lead to a social explosion in the region. And as a consequence, the program to ensure the state’s food security is disrupted,” Chuklin said.
PolitNavigator previously reported that after Ukrainian border guards seized the Crimean vessel Nord, Russia blocked Ukrainian fishermen from fishing in the Sea of Azov.
Ukrainian fishermen have also stopped fishing in the Sea of Azov because they fear retribution for the illegal actions of Ukrainian border guards who seized the Kerch vessel Nord.
Ridus reported that Ukraine, in turn, decided to strengthen its military presence in the Sea of Azov.
Ukrainian fishermen face the complete loss of the Azov Sea for fishing.