DENMARK
Konsumfisk brings together stakeholders in three harbours
Closer cooperation will help the whole community Three Danish harbours on the west coast of Jutland have entered into a collaboration that brings together all the main actors – fishermen, auctions, buyers, processors, and service providers – in an alliance that seeks to expand the opportunities offered by the high quality fresh fish that is landed and traded each day. Called Konsumfisk, the collaboration ultimately hopes to attract more boats, higher volumes of fish, increase value addition, and draw more jobs and people to the area. Fish quality drives progress
Heidi Ebey Grønkjær, the project manager at Konsumfisk, a cluster established to contribute to sustaining and revitalising three harbour towns on the Danish west coast.
T
he restructuring in the Danish fisheries sector over the last 15 years has resulted in greater concentration of the fleet in fewer harbours. Several of the smaller harbours are no longer hubs for the fishing industry as the boats have gone and with them the ancillary industries tied to the boats. Today the main Danish fishing harbours are on the west coast of Jutland and include Hvide Sande, Thyborøn, Hanstholm, Hirtshals and Skagen. Strandby on the east coast of northern Jutland and Nexø on Bornholm are the other two main Danish harbours. These changes which can
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be attributed to several factors including the capacity adjustment of the fleet, falling landings of industrial species, compliance with conservation objectives, and a decrease in cod catches, are ongoing and will result in a sector with a very different structure than existed fifteen years ago. These changes also have an impact on the harbours where the fleets are based and to maintain their relevance and their status as hubs for the industry some harbours are taking initiatives that will add to their attractions, bringing in additional vessels, jobs, and opportunities.
Three Danish harbours on the west coast of Jutland, Thyborøn, Hvide Sande, and Thorsminde, have formally established a collaboration that seeks to exploit the high quality of the fish that is landed to bring ideas, investments, people, and employment opportunities to the area. The core of the cluster is the three harbours, the local fishing associations that together represent over 400 fishermen, and the fish auction company that has a branch in each of the three harbours. In addition, there are the service companies including electricians, smiths, and nets and rope suppliers, as well as the fish traders and processors associated with the harbours. One of the most important selling points for fish from the three harbours is the quality of the catch. Heidi Grønkjær, project manager, Konsumfisk, explains that working on the quality of the fish has been a priority for a couple of years now and the efforts are starting to bear fruit. The quality is determined among other things by the length of the fishing trip and vessels these days are typically only at sea for
three or four days compared to 10 days in the past. The fish when it comes ashore is naturally fresher after a three-day trip, but other measures also make a difference. Vessels now have ice on board and the fish when it is caught is usually sorted, gutted and laid on ice in trays, reducing handling when it comes on shore to a minimum. Fish like this is termed sea-packaged and is known for its high quality. The quality of the catch in turn attracts buyers to the electronic auction. The software comes from a private provider and links the sellers with buyers, who are physically present in the hall, as well as with some 150 buyers throughout Europe, who are bidding electronically. All the three auctions are connected to the system so the buyers at all three places see the same thing on the screens. The auctions are interested in delivering the fish as quickly as possible to ensure that the buyer is provided with the best quality and will therefore often arrange for the transport using one of the local logistics firms so that the fish can be delivered to the buyer’s door within the next 24 hours. The emphasis on quality is well-known to
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