DENMARK
Thorupstrand Kystfiskerlaug explores all avenues to succeed
Fishermen’s guild is critical to the local community The Thorupstrand Kystfiskerlaug (Thorupstrand coastal fishers’ guild) was established in 2006 in response to the restructuring in the Danish fishing sector which introduced transferable quotas and resulted in a degree of consolidation in the fleet.
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n Denmark a system of transferable fishing concessions was implemented in 2003 for the pelagic and industrial fishing fleets and in 2007 a system of individual fishing rights was introduced for the demersal fishery, according to a 2012 report from the Institute of Food and Resource Economics by Jesper Levring Andersen.
Restructuring in fishery sector reduces vessel numbers and capacity Individual vessel quota shares (VQS) were distributed to all vessels that earned more than EUR30,000 a year in the period 2003-2005. The restructuring in the fishing sector resulted in boat owners acquiring very valuable quotas, although the crew of the boat did not receive any part of this. Some fishers decided to sell their quotas and to pull out of the fishery resulting in a consolidation in the sector. The number of vessels earning more than EUR30,000 a year shrank from about 1,500 vessels in 2000 to 716 vessels in 2010. While the number earning less than EUR30,000 a year, a group comprised primarily of vessels less than 12 m in length, stayed more or less stable at 1,265 to 1,121 over the same period. At Thorupstrand, a small fishing village on the Danish west coast, the effect of the new regulatory 38
Eurofish Magazine 1 / 2015
Vessels belonging to fishers in the Thorupstrand coastal fishers’ guild on the beach. This is one of the few places left where vessels arrive and depart from the beach in contrast to a harbour.
regime was that the number of fishing vessels was reduced by almost 50, from 20 vessels to 11. Fishermen that had worked on the boats in return for a share of the catch, were particularly hard hit as their livelihoods vanished leaving them with nothing. Thorupstrand was fortunate under the circumstances, in other villages, such as Lildstrand, the entire fleet disappeared removing an important source of economic activity for the whole community.
Guild works on communal economic principles In 2006 some 20 fishing families in Thorupstrand, both those
with a share in a vessel and those without, formed a guild as a response to the changes wrought by the introduction of individual transferable fishing rights. From the outset the guild had a cooperative economic principle, with each member having a vote in decisions affecting the guild. The entrance fee of DKK100,000 to the guild paid by each member and the cooperative economic principle were security for a loan the guild received from a couple of banks, and for which the guild could buy quotas. These quotas were owned by the guild and rented out on an annual basis to the members, who all were entitled to rent the quota for a year. The rent goes to service the debt
taken on by the guild to buy the quotas. Members may not trade or speculate in quotas for the benefit of individuals. And a fisher leaving the guild will only receive the DKK100,000 that he contributed in the first place. Any appreciation in the value of the quota thus stays with the guild. One of the advantages of the system is that it gives young fishermen without much capital a chance. They only have to pay DKK100,000 into the guild and then they can rent the quota they need. The alternative would be to spend millions of kroner buying quotas on the market, or of course, to move to the closest fishing harbour and get a job as a fisherman on a fishing vessel. For the share-owning fishermen www.eurofishmagazine.com