As of: January 30, 2024, 3:45 p.m
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A shrimp boat leaves the harbor.
© Sina Schuldt/dpa
First there is a threat of a ban on bottom-touching nets, now million-dollar subsidies that were promised will no longer be available: coastal fishermen's livelihood concerns are growing.
An alliance of coastal towns is now putting forward proposals on how the industry could be helped.
Pewsum - With a demand paper, an alliance of coastal communities in Lower Saxony has presented proposals for the preservation and future of coastal fishing on the German North Sea.
The “Future Pact for Coastal Fisheries 2050” was presented on Tuesday in Pewsum in the East Frisian municipality of Krummhörn (Aurich district).
In addition to mayors and district administrators from East Frisia, the signatories also include representatives of the tourism industry, the Chamber of Industry and Crafts, the Chamber of Agriculture and the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park.
With the pact, the alliance is calling on politicians at state, federal and European levels to make changes to fisheries policy.
“Our fishing needs a future,” said Jürgen Peters, mayor of Neuharlingersiel (Wittmund district) and one of the initiators of the pact alongside the town hall boss in Krummhörn, Hilke Looden.
What is needed is a perspective for fishing.
“If no changes come now, then in a few years there will hardly be any fishermen left on the German North Sea coast,” warned Peters.
“We want to promote the fact that bans are not used.” Rather, the Lower Saxony Way has shown, for example for agriculture, how transformation is possible even with consensus.
Proposals on Fisheries Law, Funds and Council
The paper calls, among other things, for a “certified fishing right” in the territorial sea, which is intended to preserve fishing areas and fishing opportunities, for example for shrimp fishermen.
The creation of a fisheries fund is also proposed, which would be used to finance measures to diversify the industry, modernize ships and for marketing and research.
All actors who use fishing areas should pay in money.
In addition, a fisheries council is to be set up to help sustain the regional coastal fishery.
Coastal fishermen's livelihood concerns had grown even further after difficult economic years.
An action plan for more sustainable fishing announced by the EU Commission caused protests last year.
According to this, fishing with bottom trawls - i.e. nets that touch the seabed - should be prohibited in protected areas by 2030 at the latest.
Most recently, subsidy cuts as a result of the federal government's budget policy also hit fishermen.
Originally, five percent of auction proceeds from the auction of land for offshore wind power were supposed to go to the fishery as structural aid.
This sum should now be reduced by 80 percent, leaving around 130 million of the initial amount of around 670 million euros.
Fisheries supports proposals
One terrible news after another has recently reached the fishermen, summarized Hans-Peter Heikens, mayor of the municipality of Jemgum near Leer.
“We have to get out of the mechanism where we always just react.
We have to take action.” That's why the municipalities sought to talk to the fishermen and other actors on the coast.
“We want to clearly show what a future perspective beyond 2050 could look like,” said Heikens.
The Weser-Ems State Fishing Association welcomed the initiative.
Chairman Dirk Sander was encouraged by the support coming from the alliance around the coastal towns.
“We hope that we can make progress with this and reach those who otherwise don’t want to hear us.” The fishermen are in a similar situation to the farmers, said Sander.
“Far too much bureaucracy and it will take time for us to have fishing spots taken away where wind farms are being built.” According to the association, there were recently around 50 shrimp fishermen on the Lower Saxony coast.
Tourism boss: Empty ports would be like dikes without sheep
The tourism industry also signaled support.
Empty ports without cutters are like dikes without sheep, said Mario Schiefelbein, head of the North Sea Tourism Agency.
The tourism umbrella organization represents nine districts and cities along the Lower Saxony coast.
Most recently, there were around 33 million overnight stays on the Lower Saxony North Sea coast, said Schiefelbein.
“Many people come here to experience nature, but also the northern German cultural landscape and that includes fishing.”
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In the coming weeks it will be a matter of finding further supporters for the proposals, for example in Schleswig-Holstein, said the district administrators of the Leer districts, Matthias Groote, and Wittmund, Holger Heymann (both SPD).
In addition, the suggestions should be made to politicians at state, federal and European levels.
“We will have to work hard to ensure that it is implemented and that it does not remain just a piece of paper,” said Groote.
dpa