Guardians of the Lake Skadar: Protecting the Wildlife at the Edges of Europe

By Sonja Dragović

* a Montenegrin version of this article is available at the bottom of this page

Lake Skadar, the largest in South-Eastern Europe, is a remarkably important wildlife habitat. Its waters and the surrounding marsh, split between Montenegro and Albania, are home to diverse flora and fauna comprising almost 50 species of fish and 280 species of birds, many of which are endemic or endangered. The Montenegrin side of the lake has been a national park for almost 40 years and is part of the Ramsar list of wetlands of international importance since 1995. 

Lake Skadar. CC license

Unfortunately, the protected status of Lake Skadar does not guarantee the protection of its precious wildlife against all sorts of exploitation. In addition to pollution problems and troubling plans for new large-scale real-estate projects within the national park, illegal hunting and fishing are the constant threats jeopardizing this delicate ecosystem. To counter these threats, local organizers joined forces years ago and created the NGO Carp Security Group, aptly named after one of the most commonly found species of fish in Lake Skadar. Their work has been demanding, focused on catching and persecuting those who engaged in illegal fishing, and it often came at great personal risk and cost. 

Vuk Saičić, one of the younger members of this NGO and its current director, joined the group about eight years ago. Back then he was still a teenager, coming to lake Skadar on fishing trips with his father and brother. To them and to the other fishermen who frequented the lake, the problem of illegal fishing and its pervasiveness was obvious: while on the water, they would often encounter fishermen who used illegal baits or other means of illegal fishing. These illicit means provided the perpetrators with huge daily catches, far exceeding the amounts of fish allowed to be pulled out by seasonal fishing licenses. 

Carp Security spotlighting illegal fishing activities in Lake Skadar, in multiple locations.

The roots of illegal fishing practices in lake Skadar run deep. Aleksandar Dragićević, an eco-activist who has been collaborating with Carp Security Group for years, explains it all started in the 1990s. The transition from socialist to neoliberal economic policy resulted in the closing down of the factories where the locals used to work. “Tens of thousands of jobs disappeared in just a few years”, says Aleksandar, adding that the former government tacitly allowed the locals to fish illegally in order to buy social peace and prevent riots. What started in the 1990s as their policy of “looking the other way” to allow the local population to fend for itself in times of crisis turned into ecocide of unimaginable proportions, Aleksandar concludes. 

The management of the National park was aware of this harmful practice but ill-equipped, understaffed, and generally unable to do much to counter it. Ergo, when the Carp Security Group was formed, the National park was keen to have them stepping in and helping as volunteer observers, spotting and helping to bring in those engaging in illegal fishing. 

NGO Carp Security Group in action 

The first year of this cooperation was rather successful: as Vuk Saičić recalls, the teams of park rangers and volunteers seized more than 600 fishing nets, along with illegal baits, most of them intended to lure eel or bleak. Several offense charges and criminal proceedings were filed, but these court processes usually ended with minimal penalties, highlighting the inadequacy of the legal and institutional framework tasked with solving this problem. However, even though the collaboration between the park rangers and the Carp defenders was effective, it was only temporary and it didn’t last when the management of the National Park changed.

This kind of partnership between state institutions and civil society organizations is uncommon in Montenegro, and the lack of institutional mechanisms for sustaining this cooperation was one of the reasons it did not persist in Lake Skadar. Currently, the National Park continues to struggle with the lack of capacity to get in the way of the threat illegal fishing practices pose to the ecosystem. The Carp Security Group still does its best to survey the lake independently and report any suspicious activities. For their work, they have been subjected to attacks targeting their property and equipment. Still, Vuk Saičić reassures that the organization won’t be intimidated: they plan to improve their organizing practice and to remain vigilant in uncovering and opposing illegal fishing in lake Skadar. One of the ways of doing this is by addressing the systemic failings and institutional shortcomings that enable these illegal activities.

The hut of Ratko Pajović, one of the members of Carp Security Group, was burned to the ground in May 2020. Photo: Boris Pejović, vijesti.me

Advocating for a more strict prosecution of those engaging in illegal fishing and poaching in Montenegro is the work with which Vuk and many of his colleagues are currently engaged, working alongside several other non-government organizations committed to environmental and wildlife preservation. Center for the Protection and Research of Birds (CZIP)  is one of them: last year, they spearheaded a campaign to introduce a moratorium to all hunting activities in Montenegro, which they see as the only way to allow enough time for the implementation of an effective reform of hunting. Ksenija Medenica, one of the CZIP program managers, explains that the rangers within protected areas and parks are poorly motivated: “Their salaries are low, and they do not have adequate equipment or the authority to react in case of encounters with poachers. On the other hand, outside the protected areas, the hunting grounds are controlled by hunting guards hired by the hunting associations themselves.” As hunters are effectively left to supervise themselves, the potential for corruption and malpractice becomes obvious, especially when reports of illegal hunting become worryingly frequent. Still, according to Ksenija, the Ministry of Agriculture maintains that the situation is not alarming and that the proper implementation of existing laws would be enough: “The key problem lies in the fact that the authorities do not see the seriousness of the problem.” 

Towards the end of 2021, the Center for the Protection and Research of Birds collected more than 7.000 signatures in support of establishing a state-wide hunting moratorium. This effort was widely supported by NGOs and activists concerned with environmental protection but is still ignored by the responsible institutions. “A year after submitting the signatures and the petition, the Ministry remains silent - they did absolutely nothing about it”, says Ksenija. She also points out how the Ministry did not implement any of the recommendations from the last year’s conference on poaching, in which the Ministry participated, and to whose conclusions they had previously agreed. She adds how “This clearly shows they do not care about solving this issue.”

In Montenegro, the problems of illegal hunting and fishing remain just another set of important matters waiting to be seriously addressed, while a diffused network of committed grassroots groups takes the lead in battling the issue on the ground and hammering at protecting, at their own cost and risk, the epic wildlife that the park is home to.

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Montenegrin version

Čuvari Skadarskog jezera: Štititi životinjski svijet na rubovima Evrope

Skadarsko jezero, najveće u Jugoistočnoj Evropi, izuzetno je važno stanište divljih životinja. Njegove vode i okolna močvara, podijeljena između Crne Gore i Albanije, dom su za raznovrsnu floru i faunu koja obuhvata skoro 50 vrsta riba i 280 vrsta ptica, od kojih su mnoge endemske ili ugrožene. Crnogorska strana jezera je nacionalni park već gotovo 40 godina i dio je Ramsarske liste močvara od međunarodnog značaja od 1995. godine.

Nažalost, zaštićeni status Skadarskog jezera ne garantuje zaštitu njegovog dragocjenog živog svijeta od raznih oblika eksploatacije. Pored problema sa zagađenjem i zabrinjavajućih planova za nove velike građevinske projekte u okvirima nacionalnog parka, ilegalni lov i ribolov su stalne prijetnje koje ugrožavaju ovaj delikatni ekosistem. Da bi se suprotstavili ovim prijetnjama, lokalni aktivisti su prije nekoliko godina udružili snage i osnovali nevladinu organizaciju Carp Security Group - Sarandzije PG, prikladno nazvanu po šaranu, jednoj od najbrojnijih vrsta ribe u Skadarskom jezeru. Njihov dosadašnji posao je bio naporan, fokusiran na hvatanje i procesuiranje onih koji se bave nelegalnim izlovom ribe, i često je podrazumijevao i izlaganje velikom riziku po ličnu sigurnost i imovinu.

Vuk Saičić, jedan od mlađih članova ove NVO i njen sadašnji direktor, pridružio se grupi prije nekih osam godina. Tada je, kao tinejdžer, sa ocem i bratom dolazio na pecanje na Skadarsko jezero. Njima i ostalim ribarima koji su često obilazili jezero problem nelegalnog ribolova i njegove rasprostranjenosti bio je očigledan: na vodi bi često nailazili na ribolovce koji su koristili zabranjene mamce ili druga nelegalna sredstva. Ovaka praksa je onima koji su se njome služili obezbjeđivala ogroman dnevni ulov, koji je daleko prevazilazio količine ribe za koje bi ribari mogli dobiti ribolovnu dozvolu. 

orijeni nelegalnog ribolova na Skadarskom jezeru sežu duboko. Aleksandar Dragićević, eko-aktivista koji godinama sarađuje sa Carp Security grupom, objašnjava da je sve počelo devedesetih godina. Prelazak sa socijalističke na neoliberalnu ekonomsku politiku rezultirao je gašenjem fabrika u kojima su mještani radili. „Desetine hiljada radnih mjesta je nestalo za samo nekoliko godina“, kaže Aleksandar, dodajući da je bivša vlast prećutno dozvoljavala mještanima da se bave nelegalnim ribolovom kako bi osigurala društveni mir i spriječila proteste. Ono što je devedesetih započelo kao državna politika „gledanja na drugu stranu“ kako bi lokalno stanovništvo moglo da se snađe u vremenu krize pretvorilo se u ekocid neslućenih razmjera, zaključuje Aleksandar.

Rukovodstvo Nacionalnog parka je bilo svjesno ove štetne prakse ali nije imalo ni odgovarajuću opremu ni dovoljno čuvara, te nije bilo u stanju da učini mnogo da kako bi se suprotstavilo krivolovcima. Stoga, kada je formirana Carp Security grupa, Nacionalni park je rado prihvatio da se i oni uključe i pomognu kao dobrovoljci-posmatrači, koji bi radili na tome da uoče nelegalne aktivnosti i pomognu u privođenju krivolovaca.

Prva godina ove saradnje bila je prilično uspješna: kako se priseća Vuk Saičić, timovi čuvara parka i volontera zaplijenili su više od 600 ribarskih mreža, kao i nelegalne mamce, od kojih je većina bila namijenjena jegulji ili ukljevi. Podneseno je nekoliko krivičnih prijava i započeto više krivičnih postupaka, ali su se sudski procesi obično završavali minimalnim kaznama, što je ukazivalo na neadekvatnost pravnog i institucionalnog okvira u kojem je ovaj problem trebalo da bude rješavan. Iako je saradnja čuvara parka i Carp Security grupe bila efikasna, bila je privremena, i nije potrajala kada se promijenila uprava Nacionalnog parka.

Ovakvo partnerstvo između državnih institucija i organizacija civilnog društva i inače je neuobičajeno u Crnoj Gori, a nedostatak institucionalnih mehanizama za održavanje ove vrste saradnje jedan je od razloga zašto ona nije opstala na Skadarskom jezeru. Trenutno, Nacionalni park nastavlja da se bori sa nedostatkom kapaciteta da stane na put nezakonitom ribolovu i opasnostima koje on predstavlja za čitav ekosistem. Carp Security grupa i dalje daje sve od sebe da samostalno nadgleda jezero i prijavi sve sumnjive aktivnosti. Zbog svog rada bili su izloženi napadima na ličnu imovinu i opremu koju organizacija koristi. Ipak, Vuk Saičić uvjerava da se šarandžije neće uplašiti: planiraju da unaprijede svoje organizacione procedure i da nastave sa radom na otkrivanju i sprečavanju nelegalnog ribolova na Skadarskom jezeru. Jedan od načina da to urade je ukazivanje na sistemske probleme i institucionalne nedostatke koji pogoduju ovim nezakonitim praksama.

Zalaganje za strožije procesuiranje onih koji se bave nelegalnim ribolovom i krivolovom u Crnoj Gori je posao kojim se Vuk i mnoge njegove kolege trenutno bave, radeći zajedno sa još nekoliko nevladinih organizacija posvećenih očuvanju životne sredine i divljači. Centar za zaštitu i proučavanje ptica (CZIP) je jedna od njih: prošle godine su predvodili kampanju za uvođenje moratorijuma na lov u Crnoj Gori, što vide kao jedini način da se dobije dovoljno vremena za sprovođenje stvarnih reformi u ovoj oblasti. Ksenija Medenica, jedna od programskih menadžerki CZIP-a, objašnjava da su čuvari zaštićenih područja i parkova slabo motivisani: „Njihove plate su male, a nemaju ni adekvatnu opremu niti ovlašćenja da reaguju u slučaju susreta sa krivolovcima. S druge strane, van zaštićenih područja, lovišta kontrolišu lovočuvari koje angažuju sama lovačka udruženja.” Pošto su lovci praktično ostavljeni da sami sebe nadgledaju, potencijal za korupciju i zloupotrebe postaje jasno vidljiv, posebno kada prijave o ilegalnom lovu postanu zabrinjavajuće učestale. Ipak, kako kaže Ksenija, Ministarstvo poljoprivrede smatra da situacija nije alarmantna i da bi bila dovoljna dosljedna primjena postojećih zakona: „Ključni problem je u tome što nadležni ne vide ozbiljnost problema.”

Krajem 2021. godine, Centar za zaštitu i proučavanje ptica prikupio je više od 7.000 potpisa podrške uspostavljanju moratorijuma na lov u cijeloj zemlji. Kampanja je dobila široku podršku nevladinih organizacija i aktivista koji se bave zaštitom životne sredine, ali nadležne institucije i dalje ignorišu postavljene zahtjeve. „Godinu dana nakon predaje potpisa i peticije, Ministarstvo ćuti – nijesu uradili apsolutno ništa“, kaže Ksenija. Ona ističe i kako Ministarstvo nije sprovelo nijednu preporuku sa prošlogodišnje konferencije o krivolovu, na kojoj su predstavnici Ministarstva učestvovali, i sa čijim su se zaključcima prethodno složili. „Ovo jasno pokazuje da im nije stalo do rešavanja ovog problema”, dodaje Ksenija.

U Crnoj Gori, problemi krivolova i nelegalnog ribolova samo su još jedan niz važnih pitanja koja čekaju na ozbiljan odgovor, dok je raširena mreža posvećenih lokalnih grupa zapravo ta koja se suočava sa poteškoćama na terenu i koja se trudi da zaštiti, o svom trošku i na sopstveni rizik, ovaj fantastični životinjski svijet.