For the first time since the Kosovo war, the Federation of Fishermen, accompanied by police, inspected the Ujman/Gazivode lake for illegal fishing activity, as part of an attempt to implement oft-flouted fishing laws throughout Kosovo.
Kosovo Fishermens Federation, with the assistance of the police, inspected the much disputed Ujman/Gazivode lake in the Serb-majority north of Kosovo on Sunday, in an move to implement much flouted laws on fishing.
“For around 24 years since the [Kosovo] war, to this day, no one has inspected [it],” Milaim Vitia, head of the Kosovo Fishermens Federation, told BIRN.
The inspection came one day after Federation inspectors were attacked at another lake. Vermica lake, in Prizren municipality, close to the border with Albania.
“It is a bit dangerous there, so we ask the police to accompany us every time we inspect,” Vitia said, explaining that the Federation is trying to implement the Law on Fishing due to many illegalities and lack of proper inspections.
According to Vitia, around 200 fishermen in the country regularly fish illegally, either by not obtaining proper permits to fish, or by fishing in lakes used for drinking water, such as the Ujman/Gazivode lake.
The strategically important reservoir was created in the 1970s in the north of Kosovo. It is claimed by both Serbia and Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008.