Estonia, Foodstuff, Markets and Companies, Port, Transport

The last time that ocean fishing vessels sailing under the Estonian flag fished for prawns in the Northwest Atlantic's NAFO 3M area was approximately 10 years ago.

Mati Sarevet, head of AS Reyktal, said that the company will likely return to the familiar waters next fall. He added that it is still too early to estimate how big of a share prawns caught in the Northwest Atlantic could make up of the company's production.

The calculation of the Northwest Atlantic's prawn stocks is carried out on the basis of fishing days instead of a ton quota. Next year, Estonia is allowed to fish on 416 fishing days, which makes up 25 percent of the 2009 level, that is 1,667 fishing days.

In 2010, fishing days were cut by a half, and in 2011, a moratorium in the 3M area of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) was declared.

If the past stocks and fishing opportunities were to be restored in that area, Estonia would not have enough vessels now to fish out the volume caught back then.

According to Sarevet, the Barents Sea sees good fishing season from the beginning of the year until fall. In October and November, the catch is smaller and this is when the company is planning to head to the Northwest Atlantic.