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Like in other EU countries with significant interests in fishery, it is now dawning on the Danish coastal fishermen that their interests are not taken care of by the major industrial organisations, and therefore they are now turning directly to the politicians for help. Like in other places, the Danish politicians and government express great sympathy with the coastal fishery, but more than sympathy has not emerged until this point. Therefore, the coastal fishermen now have joined together to develop concrete suggestions for the politicians, which they will have to implement in order to take action on the many beautiful words.

The message below is the official press release following from the opening meeting of the ”Working Group for the Coastal Fishery” in Denmark.

Press release sent out on the 5^th of March 2004 at 23.30

The course is set for the coastal fishery.

On Friday the 5^th of March 2004, in Aarhus, Denmark, 34 representatives from the Danish coastal fishery formed the ”Working Group for the Coastal Fishery”. The purpose of the working group is to support and develop the historical, traditional and coastal fishery. On the meeting it was decided to encourage the Danish Fishery Society (“Danmarks Fiskeriforening”), the parliament and the government to distance themselves from those interests within the fisheries, which want to carry through a fishery politics, which is based on a capitalization of the fish in the sea, as well as the historical rights for the fishing.

Such a development, on the terms dictated by the economic interests of the vast trawlers, will concentrate the fishery on very few boats and in very few harbours. Thereby the basis of existence of the coastal fishery, i.e. the Danish fishery as we know it, will disappear. With this fishery, the history, culture and the possibilities of entering the professional fishery will also disappear, as well as the basis for a reasonable community for the thousands of people living directly and indirectly from the fishery from the hundreds of small and medium sized fishery harbours along the Danish coastlines and on the islands.

Before the 1^st of June 2004, the working group should bring forward its suggestions of a new fishery politics and administration of the coastal fishery, and these suggestions should be put at the disposal of the Council within the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, which has been established in order to bring forward proposals for a better administration of the coastal fishery in the future.

For further information, contact

Spokesman

Niels-Jørgen Olsen

Chairman of the Thorupstrand Fishery Society

Phone +45 98 22 55 72

Cell +45 30 28 00 52

Cell +45 40 13 00 52

Mail gyvelstien12@yahoo.dk