Adapting to new realities
David Lange is director of the Association of Low-Impact Coastal Fishers Producer Organisation (Foreningen for Skånsomt Kystfiskeri Producentorganisation (FSK-PO)), a body that celebrates its 10th anniversary later this year. Established in 2014 the association represents fishers who use low impact gears such as gill nets, Danish seines, fyke nets, traps, and hooks.
A healthy ocean and vigorous fish stocks are the only way to secure the coastal fishery for future generations of fishers. FSK-PO is only too aware of this and campaigns for increasing biodiversity in the marine environment and against predatory behaviour at sea. The coastal fishery should be an important part of the commercial fishing sector and through its work in parliamentary committees that advise the government on fisheries issues, FSK-PO fights the shuttering of small harbours along the Danish coast which disproportionately affects the coastal fishery. Instead, this segment should be driving the green transition of Danish fisheries.
Classification as a coastal fisher brings certain benefits
The Danish coastal fishery regulation dates to 2007 and was introduced to support fisheries with small vessels that are active close to the coast. Under the regulation a proportion of the Danish fish quotas (for cod, plaice, and some high value flatfish, among other species) are reserved for this group of fishers. The regulation also demands that vessels do not exceed 17 m in length and that at least 80% of fishing trips are no longer than 48 hours. Terms designed to encourage the coastal fishery sector include the allocation of additional quota if certain conditions are fulfilled. The coastal fishery suffers from many of the issues affecting other segments of the Danish fisheries sector including global warming, invasive species, ageing fishers, and a younger generation with little interest in the profession. FSK-PO, however, has managed to become one of the biggest coastal fishery POs when measured against its counterparts in other EU countries. It took six years, from 2014 when we were founded to 2019 when we achieved the status of a PO, says David Lange. The founding of the organisation in 2014 was in itself a significant achievement that was accomplished largely thanks to Søren Jacobsen, now the chairman of FSK-PO, Reinhardt Schmidt, a fisher from Thyborøn and Max Christensen, a fisher from Vedbæk. They had the contacts and were urged by Danish politicians to establish the association.
Among the objectives of the organisation were to try and improve the political framework for low-impact fishermen, but it was also involved in market issues, such as fish sales and marketing, as well as recruitment of the next generation to the industry. At its founding, the organisation faced resistance from other parts of the sector that probably felt that it split the fishermen’s voice. As Mr Lange says, our members certainly did not advertise that they belonged to FSK-PO. But the organisation did get some of its manifesto through including a state-authorised label for fish caught with low-impact gear, Naturskånsom. To use this label the fish and the fisher must fulfil certain requirements: the fish must be caught with low-impact gear; the species may not be threatened; the fish should come from healthy stocks; the vessel must fall under the coastal fishery regulation; and the fisher must have completed a course in food quality.
A proportion of fish quotas are reserved for coastal fishers
Another challenge was to secure a future for the coastal fleet as the restructuring of Danish fisheries some years earlier had resulted in a consolidation of quotas in the hands of a few large vessel owners. FSK-PO therefore negotiated a fraction of the quotas to be earmarked for the coastal fishery. Since the PO was established in 2019 FSK-PO has contributed to another piece of political work, the Fisheries Commission, a body established to consider the future of Danish fisheries. In some ways this was an outcome of being declared a PO. This new status entitled FSK-PO to membership of certain committees where it could not participate before. As a PO the organisation was taken more seriously and its opinion carried more weight than it did prior to becoming a PO. But the process of becoming a PO was not easy and there was little or no support from either the other local fisheries organisations or the administration. Since attaining PO status, however, Mr Lange has been contacted by several European organisations that are trying to form a common front for the segment they represent. He attributes the interest in FSK-PO partly to its status as a PO, but also because the experience of dealing with European and Danish institutions is valuable and can be used in other contexts as well as by other fishing organisations seeking this status.
We want to secure fishing rights for the low-impact coastal fishery, Mr Lange says. The state still has some rights and these can be used to incentivise the coastal fishing industry. The coastal fisheries regulation comprises an open, time-limited agreement and a closed (unlimited) agreement. Fishers signing up to the open agreement can leave it after three years if they want. Fishers joining the closed agreement get a higher quota than those in the open agreement but can only sell their quota to vessels that are also part of the closed agreement. Vessels in the closed agreement fishing with low-impact gear get an additional quota allocation in contrast to those fishing with conventional gear. Mr Lange would like to see the open agreement, which was introduced as a temporary measure though since renewed, terminated permanently as he feels it undermines the sustainability principles underlying the coastal fishery regulation. It was an attractive measure for fishers when it was introduced, but for the next generation and for the future of the fishery in general, it is now time to close it.
Label needs more promotion
The Naturskånsom label has not yet taken off among consumers as was envisaged when it was launched. This is partly because volumes are limited since only few vessels have signed up to the regulation. Product under the label, that coastal fishers may use if using low impact gear, has been sold mainly to wholesalers who distribute it to their customers. The fact that it is a state authorised label is an advantage as it increases credibility among Danish consumers. However, experience from other sectors has shown that a label such as Naturskånsom can lead to better prices and greater value-added. To increase the volume of fish sold under the label the Fisheries Commission recommends that eligible vessels should also include those longer than 17 m and with fishing trips of above 48 hours—if they use low-impact gear and catch from fully documented fisheries. The commission also recommends launching new campaigns to increase awareness of the label and to expand the market as the volume of fish under the label increases. Also, more species should be added to the regulation periodically to increase the attractiveness of the label.
Ageing of the sector is a major challenge
According to Mr Lange, there is significant potential for more fishers to join the coastal fishery regulation despite the falling numbers that characterise this segment. But across the EU one of the biggest challenges is the mounting age of fishers. In Denmark the average age increased from 46 to 58 between 2000 and 2022, according to the Fisheries Agency. Other countries are worse affected—in Toscana the average age is 62. This is one of the biggest challenges we face, Mr Lange concedes. He recently concluded a project in a Fisheries Local Action Group that looked at barriers to becoming a fisher and can offer some explanations for the low level of interest in the profession—the negative image associated with fishing, lack of flexibility, and for some, the absence of knowledge about how to become a fisher. Young people may not know that they can become coastal fishers with a small boat and short trips, or they can work on board a large pelagic trawler with all the conveniences of a modern office. Despite the challenge of getting young people to take over, an issue that could prove an existential threat for the sector in the long term, Mr Lange thinks that Denmark could play a leading role in the EU fishing sector’s green transition. He has a vision of a diverse fishing sector with a strong coastal fishing segment comprising smaller vessels (perhaps some of them electric or with hybrid powertrains) that can fish close to or in wind farms at sea to exploit the fish that accumulate there. He sees this as a way of strengthening coastal communities both economically and socially and of mitigating fisheries’ impact on the climate. Low-impact fishing in large contiguous areas such as the Sound between Denmark and Sweden fosters biodiversity. This in turn makes fish stocks more resilient in the face of other impacts such as pollution and predation.
Instead of volumes fishers should aim to increase value
He is also keenly aware that fishers must live up to their obligations under EU legislation such as reducing discards. For coastal fishers using low-impact gear discards are not an issue, so there is a certain self interest in calling for compliance with rules concerning discards. That said, more selective fishing is in the interest of the stocks and of the marine environment, and in Mr Lange’s view, fishing needs to move away from thinking in volumes towards focusing on creating greater value. At the same time, he feels strongly that eating fish should not just be the prerogative of the rich. To reconcile the conflict between greater value and affordability Mr Lange’s solution is to have a varied fishery with species in different price ranges. Other issues that he feels need to be addressed include fishing rights, where a quota owner’s income comes from renting out the quota rather than fishing it themself. This puts a very different perspective on the activity compared to when oneself is on the water. But Mr Lange admits that the sector itself could have been more pro-active about adjusting to new circumstances, taking initiatives, and being less fixated upon doing things the way they have always been done. He sees a potential future for fishers in mixed activities, where they fish for part of the year, while for the rest they harvest seaweed and farm oysters, for example. This form of primary production may also prove attractive to a new generation of fishers, if they experience that they are not only taking something from the sea but also giving something back in the form of seaweed or bivalves which contribute to the health of the marine environment. In addition, at least some future fishers may not work full time catching fish, but instead combine their fishing activity with another job, perhaps one that is paid well enough that they have no real economic need to fish, but do it more as a welcome diversion from their main work. However, the rules structuring this are not flexible enough to facilitate this kind of combination of activities. Mr Lange would like to see greater flexibility in the rules not only to attract a new generation of fishers, but also because by attracting younger people and enabling different models of employment it would promote innovation. Older folk are by nature less inclined to run the risks innovation demands.
Revised control regulation introduces new measures
The new fisheries control regulation envisages the complete digitalisation of the control system by gradually expanding the geo-localisation and electronic reporting to all fishing vessels, irrespective of their size. All vessels will be tracked by a vessel monitoring system and all catches will be recorded electronically. In general, the coastal fishers are resigned to the increased control. Most can accept that when exploiting a common resource, a degree of control is inevitable, Mr Lange explains, but they also feel that when there are already so many restrictions on their work further control is unnecessary.
The coastal fishery has the advantage of a short supply chain and therefore a very fresh product. In addition, there are potential opportunities in the exploitation of new species such as crabs and squid. But Danes need to get better at eating fish—weekly per capita consumption at 259 g is 100 g below the official recommendation, according to the Fisheries Commission’s report. To increase this the commission recommends increasing the visibility of high quality fish by highlighting its favourable environmental credentials in contrast to other sources of animal protein. Other suggestions include focusing on species such as squid, flounder, and mussels, that are not fully exploited, and making further improvements regarding treatment of the catch (use of ice, gentle handling) to increase quality. Over the medium term these initiatives are likely to increase local consumption of Danish fish to the benefit of the coastal fishing sector.