Fishermen hold protest in Georgia

In the city of Poti, at the monument to Niko Nikoladze, Georgian fishermen held a protest action, claiming that the sale of fishing licenses and subsequent delivery of them into lease to residents of Turkey has resulted in the death of the Georgian fishing fleet. The protesters demanded to solve the issue with a permit to Georgian fishermen to go out to sea.

"In 2005, at a closed auction, fishing licenses were bought by seven Georgian companies, which then handed them over to Turks. Meanwhile, the entire Georgian fishing fleet is nearly destroyed. Seine boats are in such a state that it's in fact impossible to go fishing on them; they have problems with certification," said Georgi Tushmalishvili, the chairman of the trade union of fishermen.

The human rights activist Levan Chitadze, who took part in the action on August 31, has focused attention on the issue of licensing. "We must help these people to defend their rights, because their families are on the verge of starvation. The government should help not foreigners, but, first of all, local fishermen," the "Georgia Online" quotes Mr Chitadze as saying.

Currently, six companies are the owners of fishing licenses; all of them are registered in Georgia, said Nelly Korkotadze, the deputy head of the department of natural resources. In 2006, at a secret auction, they bought the right to go fishing in the Black Sea for 10 years. Local fishermen who have no licenses are allowed to fish 10 percent of the fish stock, while the remaining 90 percent belong to the above six companies, the "Echo of the Caucasus" reports.