Plaice, sole, mullet, squid, gurnard, shrimps, herring and mackerel. These are some of the species that fishermen with their cutters have fished fresh from the waters in and around the Netherlands for decades. But the sector is under pressure: high fuel prices, the pulse ban, Brexit and the construction of offshore wind farms are making work increasingly difficult for fishermen.
From an impact analysis commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture shows that not only the fishery, but also the chain behind it is shrinking. The buy-out scheme has a clear impact on fisheries.
Due to Brexit, Dutch fishermen are allowed to fish a quarter less from British waters. The Dutch government therefore came up with a buyout scheme for the affected fishermen in July last year. EUR 155 million was released for this purpose. Meanwhile, 54 out of 280 cutters have used the scheme.
Flatfish cutters make up the bulk of them because their method of fishing, pulse fishing, has been banned by the EU since 2019. 42 cutters were still given exemptions until 2021. In pulse fishing nets do not drag along the bottom, but strands at the end of the net give electronic shocks. This startles flatfish like sole and plaice off the bottom and they swim into the net.
Besides regulatory and political changes, there are also the macroeconomic effects of the war in Ukraine. Fuel has become too expensive for cutters to go out to sea.
With the disappearance of those cutters, the businesses behind the fishermen are also in trouble, such as net makers, boat builders, exporters and fish processors supplying the catering industry and supermarkets. North Sea fisheries accounted for 344 million euros in turnover in 2021. The companies linked to fishing turned a turnover of 2.9 billion euros in that year.
The fish sector is shifting its focus from fresh North Sea fish to farmed and imported fish. In that market, unlike North Sea fish, companies have to compete with fish processors in low-wage countries.
Not only turnover and jobs are at risk of being lost. Knowledge, for example about filleting and trading North Sea fish, is also disappearing and innovation is stalling as entrepreneurs postpone their business plans and investments.
Along with all the activity surrounding fishing, the character of those fishing villages is also disappearing. The Netherlands has six fishing regions from the Wadden coast to Zeeland. There, in places like Urk, Katwijk and IJmuiden, fishing is deeply rooted in the identity of the villages.
Leen Bleumink also sees that. He recently sold his bakery in Stellendam. He used to supply the cutters in the harbour of the fishing village on Goeree-Overflakkee. Of the 36 boats he supplied, three now remain.
Jaap Tanis also comes from a fishing family and has got rid of two boats. According to Tanis, the big fisheries do survive. But the smaller family businesses don't make it. According to him, this also affects Stellendam. "The port brought a lot of prosperity for all the other entrepreneurs: the supermarket, butcher, baker, greengrocer, the shipping company."
According to Bleumink, the tide for Stellendam cannot be turned by the buy-out scheme. Taking the boats back and preparing them for fishing is far too expensive. For that, the future for the cutter fishermen is also too uncertain. "They need the sea for something else. For solar panels and wind farms I think."
Source: NOS
