Both joy and dissatisfaction about the extension of the tolerance period for shrimp fishermen to the end of 2024

Until last week, shrimp fisherman Robin Nieuwenhuizen lived between hope and fear. He has been the owner of the cutter WR36 since last year and although it has always been a boyhood dream for him, there have been many setbacks since then. Poor catch, high oil prices and especially the new rules regarding nitrogen reduction are causing a lot of headaches for Robin and his fellow fishermen.

The shrimp fishermen were told that their permit to fish in Natura 2000 areas would not be extended if they did not invest in a catalyst that costs more than 100,000 euros. And that deadline was October 1. Some of the fishermen could afford this investment, but a large number, including Robin, could not. And then it became clear more than a week ago that this requirement will be postponed until December 31, 2024.

Feeling screwed

“It gives me some relief, so I can say that I am happy about that. It means that I can have another good year of fishing,” says Robin, “but the fishermen who have invested naturally feel screwed. .”

But why has the tolerance period been extended? This is partly due to a longer delivery time for the catalysts plus a shortage of technicians who can install them. But according to Pim Visser, director of the fish auction in Den Oever, there are two more factors: the incorrect way in which nitrogen emissions from cutters are calculated and the Nature Conservation Act, which is renewed every five to six years to assess the impact of fishing on ecological area to continue to decrease.

The calculation model that the government uses to measure nitrogen emissions cannot be used for cutters, Visser explains. “No one can actually make a good calculation of a sailing ship and its effects. That model is based on you doing something in one place: if you have a farm or are building a house. Then you make a calculation of that one point “Those ships sail everywhere, so that model doesn’t work,” said the director of the fish auction.

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But the government still expects fishermen to purchase a catalyst and also use that model for their nitrogen emissions. “And we can’t figure that out. And actually nitrogen is not an issue in shrimp fishing. If you look at what nitrogen there is in the coastal zone, the entire shrimp sector uses 0.1 percent. So that is nothing at all,” says Visser.

Soil impact

There is still plenty to discuss about that, but in addition there is the Nature Conservation Act. This law, which is renewed every five years, should already have been in place but is still in the making. “That is a whole discussion that still needs to be had, but the bottom line is that they want to close large parts of the Wadden Sea and the coastal zones to protect the seabed against seabed impact,” explains Pim Visser.

But the postponement means that the current nature conservation guidelines will remain the same for the time being, which is a great relief for fishermen, but which environmental organizations are anything but happy about. “I can imagine that conservationists have their own angry thoughts about this,” Visser agrees.

And that is certainly true, according to marine ecologist Wouter van der Heij. Because although it is a relief for fishermen without a catalyst that the tolerance period is extended, nature organizations believe that change must be made as quickly as possible to protect nature. And that is now also postponed.

Shocking results

And that just comes together with one report from, among others, the Wadden Academy and Wageningen Marine Research, where, according to Van der Heij, shocking results have been found about the effects of shrimp fishing on the ecosystem in the North and Wadden Sea. “They are no longer talking about possible effects, but proven effects,” says the ecologist.

Another expert, who does not want to be named, sees the results of the report slightly differently. “It gives a very nuanced picture of the ecological effects of shrimp fishing. And one scientist looks more from the perspective of nature and the other from the fishery. Somewhere people had hoped that a black and white answer would emerge. That is the case. doesn’t work out, but that’s not possible.”

And according to the expert, this is because not all shrimp fishermen fish in the same way and not all cause the ecosystem to deteriorate. “There are 200 shrimpers fishing and for some this applies and for others it does not,” he says. And according to the expert, the new law must ultimately make a distinction in this regard.

“What we need to do in the future is to license good shrimp fishing practices and not to license the bad ones. That you can separate the wheat from the chaff through the way of fishing and the behavior of adhering to rules.”

Fewer fish and more yield

Another positive outcome from the report, according to Van der Heij and the expert, is a possible solution to growth overfishing. “The intensity of fishing is so high that they have long since fished up all the shrimp that are large enough to peel, leaving you with very small shrimps in the sea. Several studies now say that if you were to fish 40 percent less, you would then have 25 percent more total catch.”

According to the expert, in short: “The shrimp fishery as it is now has an effect on the ecology, but if you understand where the effect comes from and what determines the risk, you can also innovate in a very targeted manner.” He therefore believes that this report can contribute to targeted innovation that can have a positive impact for both nature and fishermen.

A lot of uncertainty, outcomes, unrest and division in the shrimp fishery and that will probably remain that way for the time being due to the extension of the tolerance period. Yet the current policy has almost only losers, because Robin Nieuwenhuizen, who has now been allowed to fish for over a year, is also not happy with the current situation.

“It is a very demotivating policy and they just want to get rid of fishing, that’s how it feels. Our life is just sailing and fishing and I think it would be a great shame if that were to stop. Let there be a mess there in The Hague. So that policy is being made that we can do something with. This is destroying us all. Confidence has completely disappeared in the current government.”