October
2004
SUMMARY
1. As one of the world’s major exporters of fish products, Denmark exported 1 132 866 tonnes of fish in 2002, valued at DKK 17.1 billion, and in 2003 exported 1 074 827 tonnes of fish valued at DKK 17.4 billion. Landings by the Danish fleet amounted to 1 455 301 tonnes in 2002, and 1 054 236 tonnes in 2003. As the processing industry also depends on raw materials from abroad, imports amounted to 1 304 077 tonnes in 2002, valued at DKK 11.0 billion, and in 2003 1 453 931 tonnes, valued at DKK 10.8 billion.
2. In December 2002 the European Council adopted a reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The new approach adopted by the Council concerning the management of fisheries inputs focuses on the limitation of fishing effort.
The Council fixes fishing effort limitations by way of management plans and recovery plans for those stocks outside safe biological limits. This may have as a consequence effort reductions aimed at managing fish stocks at a sustainable level. A series of fishing effort limitations are taking place currently in fisheries for depleted stocks. These plans will probably lead to reductions of the fleet.
However, Member States must also put in place measures to adjust the fishing capacity of their fleets in order to achieve a stable and enduring balance between fishing capacity and their fishing opportunities. Specific capacity reductions are no longer required, but are still supported financially and, once implemented, are permanent (the entry/exit system).
As to transparency, Member States are obliged to draw up an annual
report on the fleet development in the preceding year to the Commission.
The aim is to give a true picture of the balance between fishing capacity
and the fishing opportunities available and the following elements
are included:
- a fleet analysis in relation to stocks important to that Member State, and in particular in relation to stocks outside safe biological limits;
- the development of fleet capacity in nominal and real terms using, i.a., data on actual and potential effort.
3. Domestic legislation on fisheries and food was simplified and modernised in 1999, and national rules on capacity and recreational fishery have been amended.
NATIONAL AND LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
4. The fisheries sector in Denmark - excluding Greenland and the Faroe Islands - is managed within the framework of the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).
5. The responsible authority for monitoring and enforcing EU and national conservation policies is the Danish Directorate of Fisheries, which is a part of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries. The Directorate carries out inspection at sea and landings, as well as verification of EU marketing standards. Inspection of veterinary standards is the responsibility of the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, also part of the Ministry.
6. National legislation aims at utilising fishing opportunities while ensuring that Danish quotas are not exceeded. Technical rules are determined by the EU on the basis of scientific advice and are assessed regularly.
7. The 1999 Fisheries Act covers protection of fish stocks, regulations on commercial and recreational fisheries, first hand marketing and duties. Minor changes have been made in 2002.
8. The National Strategy for Fisheries Research has two main themes for the coming years: 1) to support sustainable, effective and quality-oriented utilisation of resources from fisheries and aquaculture and 2) development of improved management systems to safeguard resources.
CAPTURE FISHERIES
Management of commercial fisheries
9. As of 1st January 2003, IQs were introduced in the Danish herring fishery in the North Sea, the Skagerrak and Kattegat. The individual quotas have been allocated to approx. 100 vessels, the owners of which are entitled to transfer the rights to fish the quotas of herring to other registered vessels. The IQ scheme will provisionally apply until the end of 2007.
10. For the largest fjord in Denmark – the Lime Fjord - a fishery management plan is in force with the aim of restoring fish stocks and versatile fish life in the fjord. The plan is the result of a joint working project between the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries and the Ministry of Environment together with the relevant regional authorities. A main consequence of the plan is to place further restrictions on mussel dredging in the fjord through reduction of the area where mussel fishery is allowed and gradually reducing the size of the fleet of mussel dredgers as fishermen leave the business.
Table 1. Landings by Danish, other EU and third country vessels 2002 and 2003 in Denmark and abroad
Note:
Quantity is landed weight in tonnes. Value is in DKK 1 000.
Note: The table includes landings for transit in Denmark, i.e. landings
from foreign vessels into Denmark bought by foreign buyers.
Note: The table does not include landings of fish from Danish lakes.
Note: The value of Danish industrial landings of fish include bonus
payments of DKK 86 719 000 in 2002 and DKK 27 594 000 in 2003.
Note: Other species includes other fish, molluscs and crustaceans.
Source: Danish Directorate of Fisheries Sales Note Register.
Management of recreational fisheries
11. The recreational fishery is regulated by means of restrictions
on the amount and kind of gear used. It is forbidden to sell fish
caught in the recreational fishery and there are no limits as to the
value of catch. Apart from these regulations, national measures include
the release of fish and research financed by fees charged for fishing
permits.
Monitoring and enforcement
12. As part of the EU cod-recovery plan, which i.a. includes certain
control elements, Denmark has introduced national legislation (Regulation
no. 64 of 1st February 2001 “om auktionspligt m.v. ved første
markedsføring af torsk”), which requires that the first
marketing of all cod either caught in the North Sea and Skagerrak,
or landed in Skagen or in any Danish port facing the North Sea and
Skagerrak is carried out at public auctions (in Denmark or abroad).
These rules apply to all landings of cod both from Danish and foreign
vessels as well as transit from another EU country or third country.
With respect to industrial fisheries, in 2000 the EU closed the fishery
for sand eel in the Firth of Forth area off the coast of Scotland,
whilst maintaining a commercial and scientific monitoring. The closure
was initially for three years (2000–2002), but has been extended
and is still in force in 2004. The monitoring is being carried out
by 6 Danish commercial industrial fishing vessels in close collaboration
with UK authorities and the Commission.
Aquaculture
Policy changes
13. Except for fully re-circulated eel farms, all Danish fish farms
have to be officially approved in accordance with the Danish Environmental
Protection Act. In order to meet the environmental requirements, there
are strict and fixed limits on feed use and specific requirements
regarding feed conversion ratio, water use, rinsings and outlets,
and removal of waste and offal. The feed limits are assigned to each
facility on an annual basis by the local authorities. When stipulating
these requirements, broad environmental considerations are taken into
account.
14. An ad hoc advisory board in 2002 gave recommendations for freshwater
fish farming and the related public administration, aimed at meeting
the stringent environmental requirements as well as providing the
economic basis for appropriate adjustments and investments in the
fish farms. As a main result, under new rules a pilot scheme allows
production to increase by up to 130%, strongly linked to equipment
investments, control and management for environmental purposes. The
plan has attracted considerable interest among Danish as well as European
fish farmers.
15.
A ban on establishing and extending marine fish farms, issued in 1996
by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, was lifted in 2001.
At the same time, an ad hoc advisory board, similar to the one for
freshwater fish farming, was established with similar purposes for
marine fish farming in Denmark. One of the recommendations (2003)
was that off-shore cages should be located in areas with optimum conditions
for diluting and spreading emissions from the cages. The environmental
rules for marine fish farming are in a process of readjustment to
provide for a flexible regulation system based on documentation of
environmental effects rather than strict production limits by way
of fixed feed quota.
16.
Moreover, an ad hoc advisory shellfish board was established in 2003
mainly along the same lines (also including the potential for shellfish
fisheries) in order to optimise the total exploitation of the Danish
shellfish resources (primarily Blue mussel and European oyster). Based
on interim recommendations from the board, certain areas of the Lime
Fjord (in the northern part of Jutland) were assigned to shellfish
production, and licensing began in early 2004. The recommendations
of the board (2004) include transferable 5-year licenses and the establishment
of a permanent advisory committee in order to integrate all relevant
commercial and environmental aspects in the administration and the
development of the industry.
17.
In 2004 new Danish rules came into force for farming freshwater and
saltwater fish under an organic label. Farmed fish for labelling may
be treated with antibiotics only once; there is a ban on adding colour
to the feed; and no GM feed, GM fish or biologically treated fish
are allowed. A number of Danish fish farmers have shown interest in
using the organic label. Negotiations on common EU regulations for
organic fish are expected in near future.
Production facilities, values and volumes
18. Aquaculture production in Denmark is mainly concentrated on rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), farmed in freshwater ponds and in off-shore or land based marine aquaculture. In addition, eel is farmed in re-circulated freshwater tanks; mussels, oysters and crayfish are produced in small quantities. Turbot fry is produced mainly for export and further culture. A variety of other species are raised primarily for restocking.
19. The annual production in freshwater ponds is about 33 000 tonnes, virtually unchanged since 1990, while the number of freshwater fish farms has been reduced by more than 25 percent to about 360 farms. The total annual marine fish production from 39 farms is about 8 000 tonnes, also roughly unchanged for many years. After years of continued increase, the annual eel production has stagnated at 2 000 tonnes since 2000. The number of eel farms has been reduced by 50 percent to 15 farms since 1999. In recent years, the sale of juvenile fish for restocking purposes has represented an increasing share of total turnover. Up to now, Danish shellfish production from aquaculture has been of a limited size, but an increase is expected in the future, following the recommendations mentioned above.
20.
Approximately 1 000 people are directly employed in Danish aquaculture,
mainly in traditional fish farming. A significant number of people
are also employed upstream and downstream or in associated industries
such as smokehouses.
Fisheries
and the environment
21.
A committee with members from the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and
Fisheries, from industries, research institutions, professional organisations,
other NGO’s and a number of specialists from universities etc.
has reported on the state of knowledge regarding the impact of the
environment on fishery resources. The work covered the impact of i.a.
top predators, habitat changes, climate and pollution. The report
of the committee has led to more focused research on the topics mentioned.
Government
financial transfers
Transfer
policies
22.
Most support schemes for fisheries are part of EU schemes. The structural
scheme is financed by the EU and Danish public funds, whereas aid
in the framework of the market organisation is entirely financed by
the EU. Table 2 shows the budget for structural aid.
Table
2. National aid and aid from the EU Financial Instrument for Fisheries
guidance
for the period 2000-2006
(EUR million)
| |
|
|
|
|
2.
4. Innovative actions, marketing, pilot projects 5. Technical assistance |
66.0
|
30.5
|
43.3 16.0 3.8 |
| |
|
|
|
Denmark is at present seeking approval by the European Commission to amend this financing plan. The proposed amendment includes EUR 52.4 million under Axis 1 to be spent on a new support scheme for scrapping and EUR 30.6 million to collective measures under Axis 4, i.a. to analysis (mapping), research and development in relation to elaboration of environmentally friendly fishing methods, based on new technology. The budget for these increases will be taken from the Axis for renewal and modernisation of the fishing fleet and partly from the performance reserve.
23.
National support schemes include financial assistance for young fishers,
experimental fisheries, fisheries consultants and the Innovation Law,
providing assistance for research and development within agriculture
and fisheries.
Social
assistance
24.
No support schemes are directed specifically towards the fishing industry.
Processing
and handling facilities
25. From
2002 to 2003, a further concentration in the processing and handling
facilities took place, and average sales increased for canning and
filleting and the retail trade. The structure of the processing industry
and trading firms and their development between 2002 and 2003 is shown
in Table 3. It should be noted that “business units” refers
to the average local economic units registered as VAT contributors
within a firm.
Table
3. Danish processing industry and trading firms in 2002 and 2003
Industry
grouping according to the Danish DB93 nomenclature and Danish DB03
nomenclature, which conforms to the EU classification NACE.
Smoking and drying: DB93 and DB03 152020, canning and filleting: DB93
and DB03 152010, fish meal and oil: DB93 and DB03 152030, wholesale
trade: DB93 and DB03 511710 and 513810, retail trade: DB93 and DB04
522300.
Source: Yearbook of Fishery Statistics 2002-2003.
Trade
26.
Denmark is a major exporter of fish products. The industry is becoming
increasingly dependent on imports of raw materials from abroad, which
is why import figures are high.
Table
4. Imports and exports of Danish fish products
Fish products
for consumption: unprocessed: HS-codes 0301, 0302, 0303, 0306 and
0307, semi-processed: 0304 and 0305, processed: 1604 and 1605.
Fish meal and oil: both unprocessed and processed: 0511, 0508, 1504,
2301, 2309.
Seaweed (1212.20.00) is not included in the figures.
Source: The Danish Directorate of Fisheries Foreign Trade Register
– 2003 are preliminary figures.
Outlook
27.
Amendments to the legislation on structural adjustment within the
fisheries sector were adopted in 2000 (implementation of the new FIFG
scheme) and in 2002 (simplification of advisory/partnership structure).
Initiatives for 2004 include analysis (mapping), research and development
in relation to the elaboration of environmentally friendly fishing
methods, based on new technology. Initiatives of this kind are covered
by the “Initiative Package” for the Danish fisheries sector
launched in 2003 by the Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries.
The package also includes initiatives targeted at the smaller fishing
vessels and coastal fisheries. The industrial and pelagic fleets are
also under review: renewal and rationalisation of the industrial fleet
are being considered, as well as the introduction of IQ schemes for
mackerel and the industrial fishery. In the demersal fishery a committee
has been looking into alternative management models – for example
by pooling quotas and capacity (work to be completed by the summer
2004). FIFG–measures include a new scrapping scheme (budgeted
at DKK 50 million and time limited), a new construction scheme (budgeted
at DKK 16 million and time limited) and, partly as a follow up of
the Initiative Package, a support scheme targeted at the small scale
coastal fisheries.