LTRU protective zone (200 meters inwards) on Curonian Lagoon ice gets
demarcated by LT borderguards. (bouys mark it in summer, but this is
the first time they do it on ice). Watch this complicated procedure
for your enjoyment :))
http://www.tv.lt/playasx.asp?id={1D8EB274-EEF7-4013-A856-D36432278092}
My favorite part though is the coast/border guard amphibian ship
flying across the ice, what a "ship"! :)
transcript/translation, in case any of you are sooo ignorant so as
not to speak Lithuanian (and I've been told that's some of you out
there!) Well, I know it ain't Peter for sure. He's a wise Dane, who
knows this extremly useful language!
ANNOUNCER: With the smelt season approaching, more and more
frequently, fishermen seeking the prize mingle on the ice of Curonian
Lagoon. To make it easier for them to orient themselves and not to
accidentally walk over the ice into Kaliningrad district, the border
guards for the first time marked the state border on the ice this
year.
REPORTER: Officers of Coast Guard District started to mark the strech
separating Lithuania and Kaliningrad district in the Curonian Lagoon
in the summer of the last year. Brigh bouys help the fisherman to
orient themselves and not to get lost sailing in the Lagoon between
Nida and Rusne. However in the cold season the bouys are retrieved
from the water and then it is harder for the fishermen to orient
themselves on the ice that covers the Curonian Lagoon. In attempt to
avoid border violations, the border guards decided to install the
landmarks right on the ice in the winter.
BORDER OFFICIAL: The state border protection zone demarcation in
wintertime is taking place for the first time. Earlier, bouys were
place at the beginning of navigational season, in the summer, and
they were retrieved in the late fall, when the navigaitonal season
ended. And since we are preparing for the smelt season, we know that
about 200 people go on the ice at once, of course they're form all
over Lithuania, and not local residents, it is difficult for them to
orient themselves.
REPORTER: The border guards made about a hundred sticks wrapped with
bright warning tape themselves. The sticks, drilled into ice about
every 100 meters, mark the stretch of about 19 kilometers from Nida
to Rusne. The fishermen who step across it won't be penalized yet. A
distance of 200 meters is left between the sticks and the yet
unratified Lithuanian Russian border. The fishermen, who have been
drilling ice holes in Curonian Lagoon ice for many years, doubt that
the landmarks that were installed on ice this week will help them.
FISHERMAN I: Now it helps, but if it's fog or snow, and the person
who came won't see those sticks. He'll think maybe it's some markings
left by fishermen.
FISHERMAN II: I did read in the newspaper that the sticks were
installed, but it I didn't realize they were those.
REPORTER: Those who step over the lagoon-crossing Lithuanian Russian
border face a fine of up to 200 LTL. In case of recurring violation,
a 300 LTL fine would have to be paid. This winter border guards fined
only one border violator. Ususally at least 20 cases of border
violations are recorded in a winter.
Linksmø ðv. Kaledø!