According to the news report Danish fishermen used to face the situation of being the biggest EU exporter of fish and seafood, and still running a far from profitable business. Danish fishing industry was suffering with overcapacity problem, and transferable rights have been the solution. But now it is said that the situation is balanced. With an overcapacity of 30 percent and profitability leaking, fishermen and politicians soon saw a new structure as really the only way forward.
To meet the solution of the problem Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs) were introduced into the pelagic sector in 2003, and a system with Vessel Quota Shares (VQSs) into the demersal sector in 2007. The main purpose of these systems was to balance capacity with fishing opportunities, to create room to promote social causes, and – most of all – to reduce discards, and thereby enhance long-term sustainability.
Coastal fishing was encouraged as vessels that were less than 17 metres and subscribed to rules restricting the lengths of their periods at sea could receive an extra allocation of cod and sole. ITQs could be sold to other individuals and VQSs to other vessels, however VQSs for coastal vessels could only be sold to other coastal vessels. The first results of the system were laid out for the Danish Folketing (Parliament) this spring, showing that in two years a 30 percent overcapacity in the demersal fleet had vanished, the report emphasising that this had been accomplished without scrapping schemes financed with tax money.
