The fishery is the last trade in the modern world, which bears the characteristics of hunting. The fishery however, is disappearing, because we are no longer respecting the basic rules for hunting and exploitation of nature. The fishery as a life form and a trade has always been governed by the biology and behaviour of the fish. When the fish is gathering to spawn, the fisherman comes and harvests from the surplus of food available. In this way, the fish and its nature have always been deciding the procedures and rhythm of the fishery.

This balance has been thrown over board by the industrialization of modern fishery. Today, fishing is taking place everywhere and at all times, no matter the weather conditions or the character of the fishing ground. The fish is pursued even among the rocks and wrecks, which only recently gave it shelter and protection. The consequences have been dramatic: Before the modern industrialized fishery, everyone was convinced that it was impossible to empty the sea. Today, modern fishery has documented that this is not so. We claim that modern industrialized fishery no longer meets the definitions of a real fishery, which hunts natural resources without destructing or damaging the environment, it moves in and lives from.

For 10 years, the EU has worked on developing a thorough fishery reform, which was supposed to put an end to the destruction, which the modern industrialized fishery is conducting in our common sea, and in 2002, during the Danish EU chairmanship, the reform should be passed. Now however,  it has become alarmingly clear that those who got that task 10 years ago, and those who followed, have not been able to solve it.

They have not comprehended the reality, which governs the sea and its fishery, and the reform is therefore merely continuing on the same destructive course, which has led to the current situation, where the real European fishery is on the border of disappearing.

With a self-conception of superiority, combined with a significant lack of insight and knowledge of the biological and practical realities in fishery, they move around in a circle of smartness and indifference. They speak and speak, and base their contact to the European fishermen as well as to the population on media and organizations, which like themselves are merely using the fishery as a means for their own purposes.

They speak about the responsibility of the fishery, about sustainability, good management, while at the same time ignoring the brutal fishing methods, which are destructing the nature and the fish stocks by digging, removing, destroying, smashing the world of fish and marine nature, which they have been elected and employed to administrate and take care of.

They haven’t been able, or they don’t want, to take the responsibility for the fishery, and therefore we have to encourage the European population to defend the fishery, which is still conducted in respect for the nature, it lives from. We encourage everyone to use their political influence to further and develop the ecologically sustainable fishery – the fishery which is real, in the sense that it can sustain itself as a balanced hunt and harvest in accordance with the natural conditions in the marine environment, without damaging stocks nor environment. This fishery (still) exists and is ready to take its position as the real link between human and sea. It is economically reasonable, it maintains the virility and cultural importance of the fishery harbour milieu, and it provides a fish of high gastronomically quality. At the same time therefore, we shall encourage the population to accept that the necessary financial means be earmarked for taking out the vessels and fishing methods which do not live up to the aims of this declaration, in order to secure the fishery for the future generations.

Since the recognition of the resources of the sea is the basis for a professional fishery in balance with nature, since the industrialization of the fishery has led to the development of barbarian forms of fishery, since it is of vital importance for the human comprehension of nature that we have a viable professional fishery, and since the EU has committed itself to furthering the ecologically sustainable fishery,

we declare the following:

- That catching and selling fish is an historical right – a human right.

- That all fisheries should be conducted on an ecologically sustainable basis.

- That fishery administration should be carried out in a way such as to secure the future generations fish from the sea, and a viable fishery trade.

Nothing in this declaration should be interpreted as entitling any union, state, group or individual to carry out an enterprise or act, which aims at destructing the fundamental right of the human to conduct a fishery and to exploit the marine resources.