History of the Fisheries Service

On 16 October 1990, by Resolution No. 312 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, the Fish Industry Department subordinate to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania was established in Klaipėda. The Department was entrusted with the administration of fisheries affairs and the representation of Lithuania in international institutions.

The main function of the Fish Industry Department was to coordinate fishing activities in the Atlantic Ocean. At that time, the Atlantic fishing fleet consisted of approximately 130 fishing vessels and their supporting auxiliary vessels. The Department was also responsible for fish processing enterprises, aquaculture, and fish stocking activities.

Algimantas Jonas Valiukėnas was appointed as the first Director of the Department. Since 1992, the institution was headed by Algimantas Rusakevičius. In the same year, the Department was relocated to Vilnius. In 1997, responsibility for the allocation of Baltic Sea and inland waters fishing quotas to economic operators was transferred from the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania.

In 1994, by order of the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania, the State Fish Stocking Centre was established. In 1998, it was renamed the Lithuanian State Fish Stocking and Fisheries Research Centre. The Centre included the Central Laboratory in Vilnius, the Fisheries Research Laboratory in Klaipėda, and fish hatcheries located in Ignalina, Rusnė, Simnas, Šilavotas, Vokė, and Žeimena as its branches.

Following the reorganisation of the institution in 2000, the Fisheries Department under the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania was established as an independent institution. In 2004, the Department assumed responsibility for fisheries control in the Baltic Sea, previously carried out by the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania, and was also assigned new functions related to the allocation of European Union funding for fisheries.

The Fisheries Department and the Lithuanian State Fish Stocking and Fisheries Research Centre operated as independent institutions until 2010. Subsequently, the Fisheries Department under the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania was reorganised, separating the functions of fisheries policy formulation and implementation.

To carry out fisheries policy formulation functions, the Fisheries Department was established within the Ministry of Agriculture. The Lithuanian State Fish Stocking and Fisheries Research Centre and the Laukysta Fish Hatchery were merged with the former Fisheries Department under the Ministry of Agriculture. At the same time, the institution was renamed the Fisheries Service under the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania.