In 2026, the annual amateur fishing ticket will cost 50 leva (25.57 euros), not 25 leva.
This was revealed to BTA by the Director of the Executive Agency for Fisheries and Aquaculture (NAFA), Dr. Nikolay Georgiev. According to him, the Agency's other fees have also been updated.
Georgiev expressed satisfaction that with the support of the state, all official vehicles of the Agency are now equipped with sound and light signals. Inspectors have the right to a special traffic regime on the republican road network, to use stoplights like police officers, and to check cars when there are suspicions of unregulated fishing or the transportation of fish or fishing gear. Inspectors also have the right to detain violators, especially if they show aggression towards them, and to take them to the nearest regional police station, the director of the NAFA added.
The new tariff for the administrative fees and services of the NAFA has been in the works for nearly two years, Georgiev added. He emphasized that the value of the amateur ticket, for example, has not been changed since 2006. The new tariff of the NAFA provides for an increase in all fees by between 50 and 100 percent. The prices were discussed in the Ministry of Agriculture, received validation from the Ministry of Finance and the approval of the Council of Ministers, Georgiev pointed out. According to him, there was not a single objection to the public discussion of the new tariff - neither from industry organizations, nor from state institutions, nor from citizens.
He also pointed out that the most serious revenues in the budget are from amateur fishing tickets. “Currently, a kilogram of carp on the market costs an average of 10 leva, which means that if a fisherman catches a 2.5-kilogram fish once, then he uses a state resource practically free of charge for a whole year“, commented Georgiev. And he emphasized that at the same time, IARA employees are expected to go out into the field regularly and have all-terrain vehicles, drones, body cameras, and speedboats at their disposal.
Achieving these powers was a long process, but it has already been completed, pointed out Georgiev. According to him, the equipment of the last vehicles of the Agency was completed at the end of November and all 40 branded vehicles have sound and light signals. The employees who will use a special traffic regime on the roads have undergone a training course at the academies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the country, added Georgiev. According to him, 150 people have been trained, who have inspector functions.