The Agriculture Committee held its forty-first session on 7 February. The session was chaired by Dr Zoran Masic.
The Committee discussed the Fishery Bill. In addition to Committee members and other interested deputies, the discussion was taken part in by the Minister of Science and Environmental Protection, Aleksandar Popovic, with his associates, as well as by officials of the Environmental Protection Directorate, the Novi Sad-based Provincial Secretariat of Agriculture, Novi Sad and Zemun Faculties of Agriculture, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Belgrade’s Fishery Institute, the Sutjeska Fish Hatchery, the Fruska Gora National Park, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and other bodies.
Participants in the discussion provided suggestions relating to the Bill, primarily about powers the Ministry of Science and Environmental Protection is to have in the field of fishery, as well as possible ways to regulate fishing and aquaculture, as parts of the wider concept of fishery.
The Committee also discussed the issue of importing non-native fish species, and resolved to request the Ministry to precisely set conditions for importing such fish to prevent domestic species and biodiversity being jeopardised.