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A new agreement has been announced in Denmark that restricts coastal fishing with beam trawlers in the Skagerrak after repeated conflict
The conflicts with Dutch beam trawlers in the Skagerrak must end, writes the Danish Fisheries Association.
This is stated in a new agreement that the Danish Fisheries Association PO has entered into with its two Dutch sister organizations. This brings joy to the Danish Fisheries Association PO, which has long worked to limit the activities of larger beam trawlers close to the coast in the Skagerrak, as beam trawlers have repeatedly been a cause of conflict with coastal fishing in Denmark and at the same time damaged the fishery’s image.
“In the Danish Fisheries Association, we work hard to ensure a better marine environment. Therefore, in collaboration with DN, we have proposed 10% untouched sea. And with this agreement, we are taking another step towards a better marine environment. We have reached an agreement with our Dutch colleagues to limit fishing with beam trawls along the coast in the Skagerrak, and it should be a benefit to the marine environment and benefit Danish and Dutch fisheries, says chairman of the Danish Fisheries Association,” Svend-Erik Andersen.
The agreement is highly topical, as the Folketing will this week consider a resolution that aims to instruct the government to work for the EU to ban demersal fishing with beam trawls in the North Sea and Skagerrak. A ban must come from the EU, as it is through the EU’s common fisheries policy that it has been determined which fishing gear may be fished in all EU waters, including the North Sea and Skagerrak. This is part of the explanation why the fishing industry is now taking matters into its own hands.
“In Danish fisheries, we take pride in taking responsibility. This applies to fishing as well as to the marine environment. We have always done that, and we will continue to do so. Therefore, we have chosen to take the matter into our own hands, and through dialogue with our Dutch colleagues, we have entered into a voluntary agreement, which I am really pleased with,” says Svend-Erik Andersen.
The voluntary agreement between the fisheries organizations means that all fishing with beam trawls within 12 nautical miles from the Danish coast in the Skagerrak will cease. In addition, the parties have also agreed that the so-called chain mats may no longer be used in the Skagerrak in all fisheries. The use of chain mats is very stressful for the marine environment and makes it possible to fish where, for example, an ordinary beam trawl cannot fish.