The Danish Fishermen’s PO is protesting that fishermen shouldn’t be left it he position of having to pay for mistakes made by the Danish Agriculture and Fisheries Agency – which claims that the engines of a number of fishing vessels have been derated in contravention of regulations.
This affects 22 fishing vessels operating in Limfjord, after the agency several times changed its interpretation of derating regulations. Now the agency appears to be changing working practices following strong criticism from the Danish National Audit Office of the way engine power regulations have been administered.
The DFPO describes this mismanagement as ‘disastrous’, and chairman Svend-Erik Andersen commented that ‘it is hard to believe that something like this can happen in a constitutional state like Denmark.’
‘Our members have always followed the Danish Agriculture and Fisheries Agency’s instructions to the letter, and we have done what we could to ensure that fishing was carried out according to the rules. It is therefore deeply frustrating that the Danish Fisheries Agency has changed its interpretation of its own rules following the criticism of the National Audit Office and is now threatening 22 fishermen with the possibility of having to replace the engines that they bought in good faith.’
He said that the Fisheries Agency and the Danish Maritime Authority have had all relevant information available, provided over the years as this has been requested.
‘It’s worth noting that the new ‘control’ has only been made with the information the agency already had,’ he said.
‘You can’t buy an engine that is made specifically for the Limfjord. That’s why the engine’s power is set on installation. My members have been able to go to the agency’s website and see that an engine’s power can be determined by both the manufacturer and the dealer. That’s why it’s completely out of the question for fishermen to be accused of not complying with the rules as a result of the Agency’s critical management,’Svend-Erik Andersen said.
He added that the DFPO is prepared to fight this in court.
‘It simply cannot be right that the fishermen in the Limfjord should be affected by the fact that the board has administered a completely irrelevant rule incorrectly for years, and that the administration has failed. We will obviously seek legal advice. We need to maintain a focus on our members’ legal situation in this case, if this develops,’ Svend-Erik Andersen said, commenting that this needs to be addressed and has proposed live monitoring of engine performance, so that the Agency can check while fishing is in progress.
‘Our members in Limfjorden have nothing to hide. We have been asking for live monitoring for years. I simply do not understand what the authorities are waiting for,’ he said.
