Bulgarian fishing vessel was released after almost a year of arrest in Romania

The Bulgarian fishing vessel "Iva-1" was released by the Romanian authorities after almost a year of arrest there. The vessel was detained in March 2023 together with two other vessels. The reason was fishing for Black Sea shark, prohibited at this time of the year according to Romanian regulations, but not according to the European fishing regulation.

The regional court in Constanta had ordered the release of the fishing vessel “Iva-1” two weeks ago, but the Prosecutor's Office protested the decision. The vessel was released only after the Court of Appeal, as the court of last instance, annulled the detention measure.

The court cases for the other two fishing vessels still detained by the Romanian authorities are ongoing. The Bulgarian fishermen are suffering financial losses every day.

"I don't know when the lawsuits will end, it could be years,” said Plamen Panayotov, a fishing ship owner.

The Bulgarian fishermen are adamant that they have not violated the European fishing regulation, which applies to all EU countries and has primacy over domestic laws.

"We can conclude from the whole story that the “Respect” action was successful for the Romanian police. If their aim was to expel us not from their waters but from EU waters, they succeeded. At the moment no Bulgarian ship dares to cross the border", Emil Milev from Fishermen's Association "Black Sea Sunrise" said.

According to the fishermen, their peers in Western Europe do not have problems of a similar nature and gave examples of how they help each other despite being from different countries.

"I have seen a Spanish ship go to France to unload its catch and there are no problems, they fish together. Georgia and Turkey, for instance, have agreements. Turkish fishermen go to Georgia, even dock at their ports and work," said Plamen Panayotov, a fishing ship owner.

"We managed to get another letter from the European Commission saying that we have the right to equal access and we can fish, but this does not reassure the Bulgarian fishermen," said Emil Milev, Fishermen's Association "Black Sea Sunrise".

If Bulgaria and Romania do not come to a mutual understanding on fishing, we will not be the last ones under arrest, fishermen say.

According to lawyers in maritime law, the European fisheries regulation introduces equal access to resources in the waters of the community countries, where only European legislation is in force and national bans have no effect.