Next year’s quotas for Baltic fisheries leave fishermen facing another tough year, according to the Danish Fishermen’s Association. This is despite increases in quotas for plaice and Central Baltic herring.
‘There’s absolutely nothing positive to say about this. It holds the fishermen of the Baltic Sea in an iron grip, and many fishermen will give up. It is sad for the areas on Funen, on Zealand and in particular on Bornholm, where fishing has played a special role,’ said Svend-Erik Andersen, chairman of the Danish Fishermen’s Association.
‘I think it is disastrous that the politicians in the EU do not listen to the biologists and do not let us catch the fish that they believe is sustainable. The politicians choose to tighten the screw more than the biologists say is necessary. This seems completely incomprehensible and irresponsible to me.’
He commented that the industry had been looking for a removal of some rules that make it difficult to exploit the plaice stock in particular, as well as ending some of the closed periods in the Baltic.
‘It’s disappointing that we did not get rid of some of the rules that have no effect on the cod population, but which make fishing for plaice and other species so difficult,’ Svend-Erik Andersen said.
He added that with the situation in the Baltic as serious as it currently is, the need for decommissioning is going to become more urgent.
‘It helps that DKK50 million has been earmarked for scrapping. Now there is a need to ensure that the scrapping scheme works, and does not run aground on every conceivable requirement that mean that the fishermen do not get access to decommissioning,’ Svend-Erik Andersen said.
‘It must be kept simple and straightforward, so that the fishermen who need and want decommissioning can get it.’
