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Danish fishermen call for a ban on Norwegian fish imports being sold at auctions there
Danish fishers believe that Norwegian fish should not be sold at auctions in Denmark while their boats are excluded from Norwegian waters as frustrations begin to boil.
This follows on from the call by the Danish Fishermen’s Association CEO, Svend-Erik Andersen who earlier this week called for immediate access to Norwegian waters saying that, “For every day that passes, Danish fisheries lose important income.”
Among other things, due to the protracted negotiations on a trade agreement between the EU and the UK, access for EU vessels to Norwegian waters has been closed since the New Year. This means that the approximately 130 Danish vessels fishing in the Norwegian part of the North Sea and Skagerrak are under severe pressure at the moment. The Danish fishing industry relies heavily on access to Norwegian waters but at the same time, Norwegian fishermen send large landings to the EU via Danish fish auctions.
It should be stopped so that we can put pressure on Norway to gain access, says fishing skipper John Glanz Christensen from Thyborøn.
“In Denmark, which they will use as a transit country, we should have some buttons to press that could push them,” he told Danish News Outlet DR.dk.
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Food Minister Rasmus Prehn understands the frustration. But he rejects that it is a good idea to intervene against the import of Norwegian fish.
After a meeting with the EU’s fisheries commissioner, Virginijus Sinkevicius, Rasmus Prehn has assured, however, that the Commission is fully aware of the Danish desire for access to Norwegian waters.