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The sale of Danish fishing quota to Swedish owned companies by Gitte Henning has led the Minister of Fisheries considering a regulation review
Leading Danish fisherman, Henning Kjeldsen has sold his company’s herring, mackerel, and blue whiting, along with the majority of the quotas for sandeel for a reported DKK 2.4 billion (€322m/£270m).
Danish news outlet DR.DK writes in their article, First, Henning Kjeldsen was convicted of quota fraud, now he sells for billions, that a large portion of the quota has ended-up in Swedish hands, making the Danish Minister of Fisheries consider whether the legislation in this area need to be reviewed.
At the end of January, Henning Kjeldsen announced on that he was selling his fishing quotas, and according to DR.DK the sale has now gone through, who had sought access to documents in the case. Mr Kjeldsen at the time said in a Facebook post that he had “”grown tired of the political hetz that has been around him and his shipping company and family for the past many years”.
It has been reported that there was a total of six buyers for Henning Kjeldsen’s quotas.
The two companies that account for the largest share of the purchase are the shipping companies Astrid Fiskeri A / S and Themis Fiskeri A / S, which have bought quotas for DKK 1.2 billion (€161m/£135m) and DKK 500 million (€67m/£56m), respectively.
Although both companies are Swedish owned, their boats land into Skagen in Denmark, where they also have and office.
According to Danish regulations to buy Danish fishing quotas, you must:
- Fishing from a Danish office
- Land at least half of its catch in Danish ports
- Rally from a Danish port in at least half of the fishing trips
- In addition, you must have had a minimum of 60 percent of your income from fishing in the past two years
The Danish Fisheries Agency carries out ongoing spot checks that the registered companies live up to the conditions.
Source: Ministry of Fisheries and the Danish Fisheries Agency
Minister will look at the rules
Minister of Fisheries Rasmus Prehn (S) is sorry that a large part of the Danish fishing quotas now ends up with Swedish shipping companies. But he reckons that the majority of the fish will continue to be landed in Denmark.
“It is worth noting that these are Danish-registered companies, and that therefore it is very likely that a lot of fish will continue to be landed in Denmark. But of course, I would rather have seen that the quotas had gone to Danish owners,” says the Minister, according to DR.dk.
He is now ready to look at the rules.
He will do so in the Fisheries Commission, which The Folketing has already set up.
“We need to take a closer look at the framework for the entire fishery, and if we can do more, we are ready for it. We only want us to have as small a quota concentration as possible, and that we have as much fishing in Danish hands as possible,” says Rasmus Prehn.
