In January, so far, Slovenian police boats have had to intervene in 30 cases. There have been at least 56 Croatian entries into Slovenian waters, 21 by Croatian fishing boats. After a meeting with Croatia’s agriculture minister, Tomislav Tolušić, a representative of the fishermen from Croatian Istria, Robert Momić, said that no fisherman has received any fines from Slovenia yet.
Mr. Momić judged that the Slovenian side clearly only wanted to intimidate them with its threats. So has the Slovenian police issued or sent any fines to Croatia for illegal sea border crossings? The reply from the police was that they cannot disclose such information, as it does not keep precise records of individual minor offence proceedings.
The Slovenian Inspectorate for Agriculture, Forestry, Hunting and Fisheries is also cautious with the information it gives out. Slovenian fisheries officers have had to deal with 11 violations in the Bay of Piran in January alone. All 11 cases involved illegal fishing and the proceedings are still ongoing. In February the inspectorate plans to employ three additional officers.
Croatian citizen sets up a mussel farm
Prior to the announcement of the border arbitration award, the Slovenian Environment and Nature Inspection Service already launched proceedings against an illegal mussel farm in the Bay of Piran, set up by a Croatian citizen. Last autumn, when he started work on a concrete block on the sea bed, Croatia’s legal authorities assured the Croatian that he could continue with his work on that location without any limitations even after the border arbitration ruling. And so, at the end of last year, the farm already had two breeding lines for mussels. The proceedings launched by the Slovenian inspectorate are still ongoing.
On the other hand, Slovenian fishermen are more cautious. If they would happen to run into trouble with Croatian authorities while fishing in Slovenian waters, a lawyer they can turn to is Ivica Senjak in Pula. However, Mr. Senjak told us that no Slovenian fisherman has asked for help yet.
