The development of warm water RAS began with the rearing of eels in the 1980s. Over the years 4,800 tons were sometimes produced annually, but today the quantity fluctuates around 1,200 t.
The Netherlands is an important hub in the international fish trade. One quarter of the raw materials that are processed or traded by Dutch seafood companies come from the country’s own fishery. The major share – fish and seafood worth about 2.2 billion euros – is imported. Only 20 per cent of the products produced in the Netherlands remain within the country. Most of them are exported, mainly to other European countries. The total value of Dutch seafood exports adds up to over 2.5 billion euros.
The name “Netherlands” describes the country well (“nether” = lower in position). One quarter of the land area is below sea level. An elaborate system of dikes, dams and canals preserves and secures the territory that the Dutch have over the centuries wrested from the sea. The total length of the relatively small country’s North Sea coastline in the meantime measures 1,276 kilometers. No other European people has such great experience in the field of water management and engineering or is so adept at making good use of the maritime industries. Dutch companies are active and successful throughout all areas of the industry – be it ports and shipbuilding, offshore technologies, ocean and inland navigation, fishing, aquaculture or fish processing. The fish industry has developed into an important hub in international fish trade, and the volume of fish traded exceeds by far that of the landings from Dutch fisheries and production from aquaculture. Because the industry relies heavily on cross-border trading it is constantly looking for new raw materials sources, attractive product ideas and worthwhile sales markets and is, in doing so, particularly innovative. The Dutch were, for example, among the first to bring African catfish, tilapia or pangasius to Europe.
Without its strong focus on the export sector the fish industry would never have reached its present size since the domestic market is comparatively small and does not generate high sales. With an annual per capita consumption of 23.6 kg of fish and seafood the average Dutch consumer is in the statistical midfield of all EU countries. However, Dutch consumers are very price-conscious and spent only € 56 per person on fish in 2013 (excluding consumption outside the home), which according to Eumofa is about half of the EU-28 average of € 107. As far as spending is concerned, Holland’s fish consumers are therefore in the bottom third of Europe. With almost 17 million inhabitants this amounts to a total market of 945 million euros that are generated with fish and seafood products (figures from Eumofa for 2013). For comparison: sales in Germany in 2013 amounted to about € 5.1 billion and in France to € 8.5 billion.
Thanks to its focus on international seafood trade, however, the fish industry was able to develop into a prospering industrial sector, offering a total of 20,000 jobs according to the industry’s own data. This figure is, however, four times higher than that named in EU data which show 1,773 FTE (full-time equivalent) in fishing, 250 FTE in aquaculture and 2,775 FTE in fish processing. Such deviations can hardly be explained by the share of seasonal and temporary work. Perhaps the Dutch data include peripheral areas such as suppliers to the fish industry and service providers. The figure of only 250 full-time jobs stated for the aquaculture sector also suggests that the EU data are too low. According to Dutch data, 275 people are already employed in shellfish and oyster farming.
Holland’s fishing fleet is modern and efficient
Although the landings from Dutch fishing vessels cover only a quarter of the country’s raw material requirements and account for less than 0.1% of the national GDP, fishing is the foundation of the fish industry’s economic success. There were 456 fishing enterprises in the country in 2013 but more than two-thirds (70%) of them owned only one fishing vessel. In 2014, the fishing fleet landed a total of 369,886 tonnes of fish and seafood. The Dutch fleet is well-organized and versatile and includes a wide range of vessel types for catching different species of fish, mainly in the North Sea (the demersal fleet) and the Northeast Atlantic (pelagic fleet). One part of the pelagic fishing fleet also operates in African waters and the South Pacific. In addition to modern, highly efficient fishing vessels that have been built in recent years there are also numerous older vessel units which have been in operation for more than 30 years but have undergone modernization and technical retrofitting to maintain their seaworthiness. The most modern sector is the trawler sector. This area comprises four shipping companies which operate 14 oceangoing trawlers which catch pelagic species such as herring, mackerel, horse mackerel, blue whiting and sardinella. The fish are usually processed and frozen on board the freezer trawlers.
The cutter fleet with just over 400 ships offers a particularly diverse and colourful picture. About 280 of these cutters use beam, electric or wing trawls to catch flatfish in the North Sea, mainly plaice and sole, or pink shrimp, but some also catch mackerel or sardines. The cutter fleet also includes about 70 boats that fish in the Ijsselmeer, and 60 specialized shellfish cutters. Under the EU’s EMFF programme Dutch fisheries are involved in several projects aimed at making the sector more sustainable, more profitable and more competitive. One focus here, for example, is the development fishing gear that is gentler on the fish and aims at avoiding by-catches or improving the fishes’ survival chances. Some projects are also looking to find technical solutions to increase catch quality and traceability, for example through more precise sorting, weighing and registration of the various species of fish on board, or humane killing of fish as a contribution to animal welfare.
Shellfish cultures and fish farming in recirculating systems
Compared to landings from fisheries, aquaculture (with a total annual production of no more than 60,000 tonnes) might seem to be of only subordinate importance. This impression is deceptive, however, because the aquaculture sector is technically and technologically relatively highly developed and produces on an internationally noteworthy level. Like everywhere else in the EU, however, the sector’s development is hampered by strict water and environmental laws. Dutch aquaculture can be divided into two areas. In volume terms farming of blue mussels and oysters dominates with farms mainly concentrated in the Waddensee, the eastern Scheldt area and the saline Grevelingen Lake. Production volume amounted to 54,300 t mussels and 2,500 t oysters in 2014. Altogether 58 mussel farms were registered, and 19 of them also or exclusively farmed oysters. Both mussel and oyster producers mainly prefer bottom
culture (a few companies use rope culture) based on natural seed. The annual shellfish volume thus depends heavily on the imponderables of nature which can lead to considerable fluctuations in production.
The second important aquaculture sector is fish production which in the Netherlands is mainly carried out in land-based recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS). The Dutch were and are among the pioneers in this demanding area throughout Europe and have developed or promoted breeding technologies for several species of fish such as the European eel, the African catfish and sole. The ups and downs of economic successes and setbacks mean that the number of farms and production output vary greatly, and the range of species farmed often changes from year to year. During the best years there are said to have been more than 60 farms in the country (one source even names 115 fish farms) using RAS for fish production. Today, there are still about just under 40 companies which mainly produce eels, Clarias catfish, zander, yellowtail mackerel and turbot.
The development of warm water RAS began in the 1980s with the rearing of eels which at that time still generated lucrative profits. In the boom phase there were 44 eel farms in the country producing 4,800 tonnes of eel annually. (Current annual production is said to lie around 1,200 t). Clarias farming got off to a similarly successful start with 33 Clarias farms being registered in the country at various times which together produced 4,000 tonnes. Almost always when new species of fish emerged which were said to be possible candidates for successful aquaculture projects the Dutch were one of the first to try it out. Examples are tilapia and barramundi, turbot and sole, vannamei shrimps, and of course recently also zander. In the long term, however, only a few such enterprises prove economically successful. Most fish farms in the Netherlands are smaller family businesses employing a maximum of 5 people. According to current estimates hardly more than 150 people currently earn their livelihoods with fish farming. What stands out is the unusually high level of qualification among the employees working in the RAS sector. Many of them have studied aquaculture or graduated from one of the universities in the country, such as the University of Wageningen.
Seafood auctions ensure supplies to fish trade and the processing industry
Eleven seafood auctions located in different regions of the country serve as important platforms for fish and seafood trade. They are mostly linked to landing facilities, e.g. ports or quays for regular supply with fresh marine fish. This means that the catch can be unloaded promptly for the auction and the fish can be sorted according to type, quality and size and temporarily stored. All Dutch fish auctions are technically well-equipped and meet high requirements with regard to cooling, hygiene and efficient handling of the fish. Over the past few years several auctions have joined forces to form clusters and alliances to make them even more attractive to suppliers and buyers through a broader range of products. Examples of this are the United Fish Auctions or the international internet trading platform PEFA. The largest auction in the country, which in addition to fresh fish also offers frozen fish and fish products, is located in Zeehaven IJmuiden. Nearly a third of the Dutch fish landings are auctioned there. Equally well-known is the fish auction Urk, which is said to be the world’s largest flatfish auction, and the mussel auction in Yerseke, the world’s only trading centre that is specialized in mussels. There are also several smaller auctions on the IJsselmeer coast where freshwater fish are traded.
High value adding through further processing
Europe is the world’s largest seafood market and seafood importer. Even if one ignores goods transshipment within the EU, the community’s seafood imports account for almost a quarter of the global market. After Spain and France the Netherlands is among the most important importing countries in Europe. Some of the fish products – products with a total value of just under one billion euro – are only transshipped in the country’s ports for immediate further trading. The much larger share serves as raw materials for the seafood processing industry, however, and is processed in a variety of ways to add value before being exported. The processing industry in the Netherlands is very modern and with regard to technology, efficiency, hygiene and food quality is leading across Europe. It is mainly flatfish and herring that are further processed, but also shrimp, mussels and other shellfish. About 400 companies process and trade fish and seafood. The largest locations of this industry are Urk, IJmuiden, Yerseke, Katwijk, Spakenburg, Lemmer and Zoutkamp.
All in all, nearly 6,500 people are employed in the fish processing sector, about one fifth of them on a seasonal basis only. The demand for labour is strongly dependent on the availability of certain raw materials (such as herring) and varies according to the season. About a quarter of the companies focuses on processing flatfish, mainly plaice and sole, which are landed by the Dutch fishing fleet. An important and traditional area is herring processing which with matje herring produces one of the most famous Dutch fish products. Approximately 15 companies specialize in herring processing. They are located in Katwijk, Scheveningen and Viaardingen, among others. Measured on their wholesale value slightly more than half of the herring products remain on the domestic market, the remainder being exported. The example of herring, which now has to be imported mainly from Northern Europe, shows very clearly how strongly the Dutch processing industry depends on the import of the raw materials required even for traditional products. That is why the industry is constantly looking for new fish species that offer an attractive value-adding potential, and imports, for example, considerable quantities of tropical shrimp and pangasius. Approximately 40% of intra-EU trade with pangasius from Vietnam is realized through Dutch companies. In the tropical shrimp re-export sector within the EU the Netherlands has a market share of 20%, on a level with Belgium and Spain.
The most important export markets are Holland’s direct neighbours
The Netherlands is a major seafood importer, ranking sixth in Europe in 2014 with imports of 504,000 tonne
s (+ 12% compared to the previous year). In value terms imports were at € 1.87 billion roughly equivalent to the value of Germany’ seafood imports which amounted to € 1.97 billion. At the same time, however, the Netherlands is also a major export country and was ranked first in Europe in 2014 with an export volume of 514,000 tonnes (+ 37% compared to the previous year), well ahead of Spain (446,000 tonnes) and Denmark (276,000 tonnes). The top five buyers of Dutch seafood products are Belgium and Luxembourg (18%), Germany (17%), France (13%), Italy (13%) and Spain (6%). With regard to the most important products from a commercial point of view the list is led by shrimp, followed by pelagic fish species (herring, mackerel, horse mackerel), shellfish, sole and plaice. Within the EU the Netherlands is one of the big exporting countries for small pelagic species, accounting for 46% of the EU’s total export volume in this product sector in 2014, corresponding to 391,000 tonnes of fish at a total value of 331 million euros. The main buyer countries for herring, mackerel and horse mackerel were Egypt and Nigeria. Taking into account all fish species, product groups and export markets, however, the neighbouring countries of Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and France undoubtedly remain the most important trading partners for the Dutch fish industry. Approximately half of the exported Dutch seafood products are delivered to these four countries.
MK