Authorities in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area are drafting a package of state support measures for developing the fisheries industry and supporting indigenous ethnic groups; the amendments are to enter into force early next year, as per the press service of the area’s government.

Regional measures include higher subsidies for black fish catch; this measure will boost corporate profitability and fishermen’s wages. The subsidies are to go up by 13 percent, from 120 to 136 rubles per kilogram. The list of regional standards will also be expanded, and Yamal residents leading a traditional lifestyle will be eligible for higher compensations.

Additionally, regional standards will include one new position, specifically, reimbursing families for the purchase of lifejackets (3,000 rubles per unit); one family can be reimbursed for purchasing two lifejackets.

Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area Governor Dmitry Artyukhov explained that the new package of measures aimed to accomplish two key objectives: protecting the pristine local environment and raising living standards of fishermen and their families.

“We are consistently eliminating administrative barriers by initiating changes at the federal level and in the area, and we are expanding direct material support. We are doing our best, so that people would be able to live and work in their native land, while carrying on the traditions of their ancestors,” he noted.