Bulgaria's fishing industry will ask the state for de minimis aid because of the tension in the Black Sea. Yordan Gospodinov, executive director of the BG Fish association and chairman of the Black Sea Advisory Council, said this in Varna today. As of yesterday, the biggest fishing firms with processing plants had caught only half of last year's catch.

This report follows our earlier story on the pressure on Black Sea fishermen from strikes on ships, jammed navigation and a lack of fish.

"The fishing sector is in force majeure conditions, and we will ask the state for help under the de minimis rules," Gospodinov told reporters. Such aid is given in cases of force majeure, and fishing is exactly such a case, he said, so the state must protect the sector.

The Advisory Council, whose members include 15 Bulgarian and foreign associations, discussed the issue at a meeting in Varna. It is now drafting an appeal to the governments of Bulgaria and Romania, asking them to help the industry.

Bulgaria's fishing fleet has 1,740 vessels. Of these, 100 are large ships that fish beyond the 12-mile zone, in the economic zone. Many of them no longer go to sea. Some crews refuse to sail, and others fish only near the coast.

The risk in the economic zone is now too high, Gospodinov believes. Fishermen fear not gunfire but mines and fallen drones carrying explosives. Crews have reported suspicious objects in the water to the authorities. So far there have been no incidents involving Bulgarian fishing vessels.

The fish in the sea have vanished, Gospodinov said. He is not a scientist, he added, but the most likely cause is the explosions and the sinking ships.

A smaller catch will make fish at the market more expensive. Gospodinov called for the problem of the fish processing plants not to be underestimated.

Romanian fishermen are not going to sea either, and their ships are tied up in port. Gospodinov said the situation in both countries is stressful even for small boats, although they fish close to the shore.

Gospodinov warned: "Bulgarians must be aware that Black Sea fish will become scarcer and more expensive."