A Norwegian fishing company has been awarded NoK3.5 million in compansation after its fishing vessel Sulehav was displaced from its usual fishing grounds in August and September this year due to seismic activity taking place there.
Lending Rederi, which operates Sulehav, applied to the compansationboard for compensation totalling NoK4.2 million for loss of earnings between 20th August and 27th September when it would under normal circumstances have been fishing for cod and saithe.
‘We are very satisfied, and even though we would have preferred to fish our quota, it is positive that the compensation scheme is proving to be working as intended,’ said the company’s Linne Lending.
Sulehav was fishing for cod, haddock, saithe and whiting on the Patch and Coral Banks in August and September this year, and fished well before returning to the fishing grounds after landing in Kopervik, by which time seismic vessel North Barents was at work in the area. Despite requests for the seismic vessel to move to other areas, it continued its activities – which the fishing company sees as displacing its vessel from those grounds.
‘We based our calculations on how the fishing was last year and the prices this year. In addition, we had to bunker with fuel for an extra NoK325,000 because we were forced to search for fish in other areas,’ she said and added that this is something they have experienced before.
In a similar incident in 2022, she said that, ‘our experience is that we as fishermen are expected to find fish elsewhere.’
‘We are responsible for a new boat and a crew of six on board. In 2022, we experienced a similar displacement. This time, we actively sought advice from the Norwegian Fishermen’s Association and also thoroughly documented the measures taken on our part,’ she said, commenting that support provided by Norges Fiskarlag’s lawyer Henriette Skaar and the assistance throughout the case have shown the value of being a member of the organisation.
‘This has been difficult for us, but we feel that we have been listened to by the state in achieving such a breakthrough. We really didn’t dare to believe that it would work out, and at least not at first,’ Linne Lending said.
The company is paying shares out of the compensation to the crew, as if they had been fishing normally.
‘For us, it is important to demonstrate that we take responsibility for both the boat and the crew. There was no doubt in our minds that this was how we had to do it,’ she sais.
Under Norwegian legislation, if oil-related partially or completely occupy a fishing area, the state is obliged to provide compensation for any economic loss entailed, in the event that fishing is made impossible or significantly more difficult. Of five such cases this year, three have been dismissed. In one case a fishing company applied for NoK1.5 million in compensation and was awarded NoK300,000. The Sulehav case has resulted in the largest such compensation payout by the state.
