The discussion of the second stage of allocating investment quotas for fishing, which provides for the transfer of rights to catch aquatic biological resources (fish, crabs and shellfish) 10 years earlier from SMEs to large players, is now increasingly taking on an ESG dimension – regional authorities, experts and industry experts believe that the redistribution on the market will lead to an increase in poaching, excessive fishing pressure on stocks and does not correspond to the accepted 2019, the Fisheries Development Strategy until 2030 (which is based on the same ESG principles).
Yesterday, the bill was discussed at a joint meeting of the industry association of employers, the trade union with the participation of deputies and the leadership of Rosrybolovstvo. Participants noted the contradiction of the bill with the goals of another strategic document not only for the fishing industry, but also for a number of coastal regions of the country – a tripartite industry agreement.
This agreement was signed on December 5 by Rosrybolovstvo, the Russian Union of Fishery Employers and the industry trade union. It is aimed at preventing unjustified mass layoffs, improving working conditions, increasing wages, corporate development of employees, including separate programs for youth, implementing corporate social responsibility and systematic development of the industry’s potential. That is, in its pure form, an ESG agreement.
But the adoption of the bill could lead to the opposite, according to meeting participants. According to their estimates, 5-6 largest industry players will be able to participate in the planned auctions of the second stage. Mass bankruptcy of SMEs will provoke a sharp jump in unemployment and an outflow of population from the Far East and North. As a result of competition for jobs, wage cuts are likely to occur. And today the salaries of fishermen are among the highest – second only to the salaries of oil workers and miners.
The deputies present at the meeting also did not go unnoticed – the fishing community thanked the people’s representatives for their consistent position on the need to clarify the norms of the high-profile bill. Those present approved a corresponding resolution supporting amendments to the bill by senators and deputies.
The trade union community directly states that the social and economic goals of the Agreement to protect workers employed in the industry will be unattainable if the bill is adopted. Moreover, potential risks include that fishermen will lose resources, and new loans and subsequent bankruptcies will set the industry back decades. The lack of sufficient tax revenues to regional budgets will stop the implementation of social projects.
“ВЧК ОГПУ”