Fish sector leaves consultation North Sea agreement

After urgent consultation, a broad front of organisations from the Dutch fish sector unanimously decided to withdraw from the North Sea consultations due to the complete lack of future prospects. The fisheries organisations Nederlandse Vissersbond, Productenten Organisaties Urk and Roussant, the National and Urker Koepel voor de Visverwerkende Industrie en Handel, the Visfederatie and the Vereniging Vishandelaren Urk, wrote a letter to Ministers Schouten of Agriculture, Nature and Food Safety and Van Nieuwenhuizen of Infrastructure and Water Management.

The Dutch fish sector was already critical of the North Sea Agreement, because the construction of large-scale wind farms, the necessary nature compensation, the ban on pulse fishing and the uncertainties surrounding the Brexit leave little room and perspective for the sector as a whole. As far as the fishing industry is concerned, the life-threatening action by North Sea agreement partner Greenpeace to dump large boulders on the Dogger Bank is turning the world upside down.

The fishing industry attaches importance to a course that offers scope for preserving and restoring the prospects for the sector, now and in the future, so that not only our but also future generations can continue to find valuable work in the fishing industry. Fishing is not only one of the most traditional economic activities in the seas around our country, it is also crucial to today's desire to provide food close to home. The agricultural industry in the Netherlands, including the fishing industry, is essential for this. It is a fact that times are changing, that adjustments and innovations are needed too, but that is not the same as simply reducing the fishing grounds or buying out part of the fleet, which means that any prospects for fishermen and processing companies disappear behind the horizon.

Click here for the letter (Dutch only)

visfederatie.nl