POLAND
Kolobrzeska Fish Producers’ Group restructures its processing facilities
Adding value to the catch is the only way forward Kolobrzeg, located on the Polish west coast, is a fishing port hosting the eponymous Fish Producers’ Group, a producer organisation for part of the fishing fleet based in the city. Established in 2005, the year after Poland joined the European Union, the PO has made good use of EU support to create the infrastructure for primary processing, freezing, and cold storage, of the fish caught by its members.
T
he Kolobrzeg PO has close to 30 members, both active and former fishermen, and some 20 vessels amounting to roughly a third of the vessels registered in Kolobrzeg. Two of the vessels are over 25 m and equipped with refrigerated seawater systems (RSW) to maintain
the quality of the catch. Of the remainder some are 15 m vessels that target mainly cod and flounder, and some are 8-10 m boats. The objective of the PO is to use all the fish, most of which is pelagic and flounder, from its members. Some of the smaller vessels use gill nets to catch
spring spawning herring which has a very short season. This January and February the weather has been so bad that the fleet has been staying in port more than it has been at sea. Normally during the season the vessels will practically commute
between the port and the fishing grounds – going to sea, coming back to discharge the catch, and then setting out again – but for some weeks unstable weather has prevented this, to the frustration of the fishers. The main season lasts from January to the end of March/middle of April.
Belts carry the fish from the tanks to the grading machines, which sort the fish by size as well as by species, since sprat are typically smaller than herring.
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