Collapse of political and economical system as a cause for instability in fisheries sector: An Estonian case

The transition process from the Soviet economical system to the market economy in fisheries has received relatively little attention from fisheries researchers. This study analyze how overall changes in political and economical life of Estonia during the last decade have affected the complex system of the environmental, economic, social and legal issues connected to the coastal fishery of the Baltic Sea. At the beginning of the nineties the possibility to export fish to the European market appeared. Opening of this new and highly profitable market outlet resulted in rapidly increasing pressure to the fish resources, both in terms of the number of fishermen and in their effort. Some of the most important coastal fishery resources have been over-fished because of high export market demand coupled with insufficient resource management, and not effective enough control and enforcement capacity. The costs connected to fishery have grown much more than the first buyer prices. Additionally, dynamic development of the Estonian economy has yielded in substantial increase of wages in other sectors of economy and therefore the well-being of fishermen has steadily worsened. This has resulted in increasing social problems. The conclusion is that countries in transition may encounter serious difficulties in the fishery sector arising from privatization and rearrangement of financial system, which may affect the fishery even years after the establishment of new ruling principles.