After four-hour talks in Zadar on Wednesday evening, Agriculture Minister Petar Cobankovic and representatives of three fishermen's associations reached agreement on most of the fishermen's demands concerning regulations on fisheries, but Cobankovic did not accept the two most important demands - that State Secretary for Fisheries Tonci Bozanic resign and that an economic zone be urgently declared in the Adriatic.
Cobankovic said after the talks that Bozanic had been appointed by the government and that the request for his resignation had yet to be considered.
One of the fishermen attending the talks, Sasa Elez, said fishermen would not take any radical action in the next 30 days to give the government time to consider their demand that Bozanic step down.
As for the demand that an exclusive economic zone be declared in the Adriatic and Croatia establish sovereignty over 23,000 square kilometres of the Adriatic Sea to protect the Croatian waters from rival fishermen, primarily those from Italy, Cobankovic did not accept it, but he agreed to have a number of regulations on fisheries discussed in public debates so that they could be adjusted to fishermen's needs.
The fishermen said that they were satisfied with the outcome of the talks but would continue to insist on the two remaining demands.
The talks between Cobankovic and fishermen were held after last week's failed talks between State Secretary Bozanic and fishermen's representatives and protests of fishermen in nine coastal cities.
