The time to go sand eel fishing has arrived.
The number of sand eel and the size of the quota for both Denmark and the individual fisherman will be decided within the first few weeks of fishing, so it is crunch time!
We hope that this year the EU will propose a meaningful quota, a quota untainted by calculation errors and bureaucracy, and a quota which is acceptable, understandable and explicable to both industrial fishermen and ordinary people.
Necessary to keep down fishing costs
Despite the steadily declining dollar rate, the cost of fuel continues to increase, so we have to hope for good and particularly effective sand eel fishing, so that fishing costs are kept down.
The declining dollar rate has a negative effect on factory earnings. The price of fishmeal has dropped by approx. 30 per cent since the last sand eel season, due partly to an actual price drop and partly to the low dollar rate.
Necessary to win back the customers
The negative aspect of the high price level in 2006 was that the customers stopped, or significantly reduced, the use of fishmeal in their feed.
Since then, the price of fishmeal has declined, as mentioned above, while the price of other protein sources has increased. Today, the price of fishmeal has therefore been normalised in relation to alternative protein sources for feed – and in relation to the price level in 2006 and 2007.
However, we have to acknowledge that it takes time to induce the lost customers to use fishmeal again.
Good fish oil prices
By contrast, the outlook for fish oil is brighter, as the demand for fish oil for both health food and fish feed exceeds the supply. Consequently, the price of fish oil is historically high despite the low dollar rate.
The oil price has increased by 60 per cent, both in relation to the last sand eel season and for use in fish feed. The price of South American fish oil for health food has more than doubled since 2007.
No shortage of challenges
There is no doubt that the global crisis atmosphere and the credit crunch will also affect the fishing industry in Denmark, but it is too early to predict in what way and how much.
There is therefore also no doubt that there will be no shortage of challenges and tasks as we start the 2008 sand eel season. That said, there is likewise no doubt that a successful sand eel season is essential to the industry.
To conclude, I therefore wish everyone a very good sand eel season.
