Latvian fishermen are considering a relocation to Russia and becoming Russian citizens to be able to fish, as their homeland provides less and less opportunities because of restrictions imposed by the European Union, Sputnik media agency reported.
A few years ago, Russia launched a state-funded program for the relocation of compatriots from abroad. The program encourages Russian-speaking people who have immigrated or stayed in the former republics of the Soviet Union after its collapse in 1991 to come back to their historic homeland by providing financial support, granting Russian citizenship, and providing assistance with jobs. This applies even to those who have never had any ties to Russia, but speak Russian.
During a yearly conference on the implementation of the program held in Latvia in late August, a few dozen Latvian fishermen expressed a strong interest in relocating to the Murmansk region – dubbed the capital of the Russian Arctic, and home to some major Russian fisheries harvesting primarily in the Barents Sea. The area has been facing a lack of qualified labor force across almost all the industries presented in the area, including fishery, port services, shipbuilding, and ship repair.
Sputnik’s reporter referred to his friend Kaspars Rudzitis, with whom he had fished in the Irbe Strait many years ago, as one of the Latvian fishermen who was going to obtain Russian citizenship. Rudzitis said that despite the fact of being a native Latvian, he intended to settle in Russia, as it has been getting more and more difficult to do fishery-related business in his homeland.
Hardships, according to the fishermen, began since Latvia’s entry to the European Union in 2004, as more powerful countries used their political weight to push out weaker competitors, including Latvia, from the Baltic Sea. At first, the E.U. subsidized the scrapping of fishing vessels, then, from year to year, started to cut quotas available to Latvian fisheries.
The entry also made it much more difficult to export Latvian seafood to Russia and Belarus, previously major markets. The domestic market of the country cannot utilize the whole catch harvested by local fisheries, which leads to tough competition.
“As a result, it’s time for me to leave Latvia," Rudzitis said in an interview with Sputnik. "But where for? Of course, only for Russia. I shared my thoughts with my family and got support. My colleagues would also better come to Russia than to England or Ireland that have high unemployment rates. So we are going to trawl in other seas!”
Photo courtesy of Karlis Ustups/Shutterstock
