It’s a focal point for European fishing – every two years the Danfish Exhibition provides a unique platform for the fishing industry as the city of Aalborg buzzes with visitors from Denmark and around the world.
Aalborg is at the centre of the north Atlantic fishing industry’s crossroads, a focal point between fishing in the north and the major fish-consuming markets further south. DanFish always brings together a unique cross-section of services and products for the international fishing industry from companies both in Denmark and those who come from around the world to exhibit at Aalborg.
Today there is a new confidence to the fishing industry with a steady increase in investment in new vessels to take advantage of healthy fish stocks, strong quotas and a demand for seafood that is only becoming stronger. In fact, the available exhibition space is already close to being sold out as DanFish becomes a natural centrepoint for companies seeking to build, and this year the exhibition is hosting more shipbuilders than ever as the demand for new fishing capacity remains high.
Karstensens Skibsværft, based in Skagen at the northern tip of Jutland, is a longstanding builder of fishing vessels and has an impressive orderbook for owners in the UK, Ireland and Norway, as well as in Denmark. Vestværft, located at Hvide Sande on the west coast has never been so busy, with newbuilds for the UK, Irish, Dutch, Norwegian and Danish customers, and to cope with the demand has placed newbuild projects with other yards.
What is noticeable about the Danish yards is that they have also stayed with the fishing business through the leaner years, developing their designs to meet the needs of an industry that is changing in terms of delivery and quality requirements. Through the years when fishing was slow, the Danish yards looked after their longstanding customers, and the reward has been the full orderbooks we see today, with both Karstensens and Vestværft able to look forward to some busy years ahead.
‘DanFish is one of the top fishing exhibitions, and with it taking place practically in our back yard, of course we will be there. We will be looking to meet our old customers – but hopefully also new ones,’ commented Kent Damgaard of Karstensens Skibsværft.
In addition to the Danish shipbuilders taking part in this year’s event, the exhibition has attracted shipyards from Norway, Turkey, Spain and the Baltic region as the requirement for new fishing vessels grows, both yards building new vessels as well as those specialising in repair, steelwork or refit work.
Some of them are attending DanFish for the first time, and this is a clear reflection of the increased confidence in the fishing industry as quotas are good, fishing is healthy and the demand for quality seafood continues to rise. This isn’t to say that DanFish is all about shipbuilding – the exhibition is a focus for every facet of the fishing industry and attracts visitors and exhibitors from small-scale fisheries up to the deep-sea sector, and everyone in between.
While showcasing what Danish yards and their suppliers are able to do, DanFish builds successfully on its central position at the entrance to the Baltic and as a gateway between northern and southern Europe, making it the most international of the fishing industry exhibitions taking place in Europe, both in terms of visitors and exhibitors.
DanFish provides a showcase for the whole range of technology from a new ship to a set of oilskins. This is the place to find anything from the latest fishfinders to a full processing factory or a set of trawl doors, and this is also the exhibition where many suppliers make a point of launching their latest developments.
DanFish takes place in Aalborg 11-13th October 2017
