The Danish Fisheries Agency has given commitments on scrapping support of DKK 47m for 33 Baltic Sea based fishing vessels
The Danish Fisheries Agency has given commitments on scrapping support for 33 vessels for a total of approx. 47 million DKK (€6.3m/£5.6m) on the aid scheme “dismantling of fishing vessels for cod fishermen in the Baltic Sea”.
DKK 50 million (€6.7m/£5.96m) has been set aside in the Marine and Fisheries Development Program (EHFF) for a scrapping scheme for vessels in the Baltic Sea. The purpose of the scheme is to contribute to reducing the imbalance between fishing capacity and fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea as a result of the significant quota reductions for cod in recent years and the ecological condition of the Baltic Sea in general.
The Danish Fisheries Agency has received a total of 63 applications before the application deadline on 31 December 2022. Of these, 36 applications meet the application conditions of the support scheme with an application for a total amount of approx. 68 million DKK (€9.1m/£8.1m)
“All applications have been prioritised according to the scheme’s criteria, and commitments have thus been given to 33 applicants for approx. 47 million,” says the Danish Fisheries Agency. “As the scheme’s financial framework is DKK 50 million. DKK, there are 3 applications which have not received a commitment for support, even though they meet the support criteria. The applications have been prioritized based on the highest share of cod fishing from the Baltic Sea. The remaining amount of approx. 3 million DKK (€403k/£357.5k) will be offered in priority order to one of the three applicants who meet the scheme’s criteria, but where the amounts applied for fall outside the financial framework of the support scheme.”
In order to receive support, the fishing vessels must be scrapped by 31 December 2023 at the latest, and payment must also be requested by this date.
The Danish Fisheries Association says that since the fateful day in October 2019, when fishing opportunities was significantly reduced in the eastern and western Baltic Sea, they have worked for scrapping support as a necessary help for the fishermen who were unwittingly affected by the falling quotas and the failed management of the Baltic Sea.
“Because since 2019, it has only gone back for fishing in the Baltic Sea,” claims the Association. “Here, three years after the then Minister of Fisheries, Mogens Jensen, announced that a scrapping scheme should be established, the fishermen have finally received their commitment. The Danish Fisheries Association looks on with satisfaction.”
“I’m really happy that the money is finally working. The situation in the Baltic Sea is unhappy, and I feel for the fishermen who have had to throw in the towel. It has been a long and tough process to secure support for the fishermen, and I am happy that it has finally succeeded,” says Allan Buch, chairman of the Belts Fishing Association.
In total, 63 vessels applied for scrapping aid. Of these, 36 vessels met the established criteria of 90 days at sea annually in 2020 and in 2021 and a dependence on cod of 25% in the period from 2017-2019. Half of the funds for dismantling have been found in the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, and the other half is financed with national funds.
The Danish Fisheries Association hopes that a fund review will be carried out to find funds for the last three vessels that meet the criteria and which have not been promised scrapping support.
“We are of course satisfied that virtually everyone who meets the criteria has also been promised support. Nevertheless, we encourage you to turn every stone to see if there are free funds that can ensure that everyone who meets the criteria is promised scrapping support. Those people are still in an impossible situation, and of course they must be helped like the remaining fishermen who meet the criteria,” says Kim Kær Hansen, chairman of the Klintholm Harbor Fishing Association.
The Danish Fisheries Association also insists that it is a sad fact that as many as 63 vessels have applied for scrapping. This testifies to the fact that fishing in the Baltic Sea has historically had difficult conditions.
The situation remains serious, and therefore the Association points out that there may be a need for a new round, where the criteria should also be looked at.
“It is really sad that so many fishermen want to leave fishing. Although it is positive that 33 vessels have now received support for scrapping, we are therefore in a situation where an equally large group stands with its beard in the mailbox. We have to take a closer look at that, so that we don’t leave good colleagues in the dark. I believe there is a need for another round, just as there is a need to look more closely at the criteria,” says Thomas Thomsen, chairman of the Bornholm and Christiansø Fishing Association.