Denmark’s Minister Food and the Environment Esben Lunde Larsen has announced subsidies for investment in fishing vessels to improve safety, environmental factors and catch quality, as well as opening a grant scheme for boosting aquaculture.
Under the scheme, Danish fishermen can apply for grants for innovative fishing gears to reduce discards or to reduce environmental impacts, such as coverless trawls designed to catch flatfish while releasing cod, or gears designed to fish clear of the seabed.
There was a great deal of interest in a similar scheme in 2016 and all the available cash had been applied for within the first 24 hours. This year there are DKK27.50 million available.
‘It is very encouraging to see how much interest there is among Danish fishermen to modernise their vessels and to make fishing both more environmentally friendly and efficient. This system helps ensure that fishermen have the latest technology and equipment available, and it is both good for the environment and for fishing earnings, so this is money well spent,’ Esben Lunde Larsen said.
Alongside the fishing development scheme, the Danish authorities have made available DKK 24.70 million for aquaculture enterprises that can apply for grants for investment in waste water treatment plants, new model farming installations, new species or measures designed to improve animal health and welfare.
‘There is great potential in Danish aquaculture and the government’s objective is that the production of fish and shellfish should grow by 20% by 2020. Now we are giving the industry opportunities to gain access to modern technology so they can produce more with a smaller environmental impact – it’s good business,the minister commented.
Together these two systems, Investment in Vessels and Investment in Aquaculture, come to DKK52.20 million from the Danish Maritime and Fisheries Development.
