Putin defends amateur fishing

MOSCOW, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says efforts to promote recreational fishing has made the process too bureaucratic.

Putin criticized local authorities for turning prime fishing areas over to commercial enterprises. Regional authorities were given the right to map out designated amateur fishing areas and charge a nominal fee to fisherman. Instead the regions were sold off competitively to industrial buyers, ITAR-Tass reported Wednesday.

Putin said commercial companies own a great deal of fishing territory in the country, more than half in some regions, leaving few areas with any infrastructure available for the use of amateur fishermen.

He also said the "fisherman's card" is too difficult to obtain, calling the process "too bureaucratic."

Putin, however, called for more regulations to deal with poaching. He said amateur fishing does no harm to the environment, while poaching does.