Measures presented by the Norwegian authorities for three extensive zero-fishing areas in Oslo Fjord have been criticised by the Norwegian Fishermen’s Association as posturing by the government, while other issues remain unaddressed.
‘It is sad and very disappointing that the government is choosing to ride roughshod over professional fishermen of Oslo Fjord. For many fishermen, this will in practice mean a ban on their work. This is symbolic politics that we absolutely cannot accept,’ said Kåre Heggebø, director of the Norwegian Fishermen’s Association.
The government presented these new measures for regulating Oslo Fjord’s fisheries earlier this week, following an extensive consultation earlier this year. The Fishermen’s Association provided a number of proposals and alternatives in the consultation, based on practical knowledge and experience.
‘We must thoroughly understand what the government has now presented, and discuss this in more detail with our members, but there must be no doubt that the large zero-fishing areas are both dramatic and very intrusive. Here, the fishermen are made scapegoats for a situation that is driven by completely different factors,’ he said.
Kåre Heggebø believes that it is inconsistent and illogical that interventionist measures for fishermen are being introduced while sewage, runoffs and industrial emissions are still being discharged into the Oslo Fjord untreated. This is a point that a number of politicians have also made.
‘It is striking that some people are trying to make this about fishermen also having to take some responsibility. We accept and support regulations to ensure sustainable fisheries, but what is coming now is of a completely different dimension. The problem that the authorities are trying to solve is not about fisheries at all,’ Kåre Heggebø said
During the government’s presentation of the proposed measures for the Oslo Fjord at a meeting in Tønsberg, both Ivar Kanten and Tobias Rosendahl Beck highlighted their that zero-fishing areas will result in substantial reductions in value creation, and stated that measures are effectively a ban on their businesses.
Kåre Heggebø commented that the government now appears to be taking a new political line, and he made this point to Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre at the meeting in Tønsberg.
‘This is bad news for the fishing industry and bad news for everyone who believes in knowledge-based management. It seems that the government has completely forgotten that the fisheries in Oslo Fjord are strictly regulated, with quotas, gear restrictions and other technical regulations,’ he said.
‘The fishermen of Oslo Fjord have been central in developing both new regulations and more gentle fishing methods. The fishermen are completely dependent on a good environmental condition and strong stocks. There are some who believe that total protection is the only possible protection. That has never been the line in Norwegian fisheries policy, and it is deeply regrettable that the government here has chosen a course that does not take into account the practice of gentle, coastal fisheries. The scientific basis is razor-thin, and I fear that this is mostly about the upcoming general election,’ Kåre Heggebø said, warning that large conservation areas and zero-fishing areas are new policies in Norway.
‘We will always be a coastal and maritime nation, but the question is whether we will be a large fishing nation in the future.’
