The banking economists rely on the recent restructuring scheme for fishermen who are suffering from Brexit and the damage to the sector as a result of high fuel costs and the expansion of wind farms in the North Sea. In addition, the corona crisis and the ban on pulse fishing, fishing with electric shocks instead of trawls over the bottom, have cut a hole in the income of fishermen.
Support fuel costs
A third of the fishermen expect to run into money problems due to high fuel prices. The promised support for expensive fuel is still not forthcoming. In addition, due to the ban on pulse fishing, a cutter consumes almost twice as much fuel, because the ship has to drag nets over the bottom again. Fuel costs represent between 19 and 37% of the total costs in the cutter fishery, depending on the type of cutter and on which fishing is done.
On July 18, the government received the green light from Brussels to clean up the Dutch fishing fleet for €155 million. However, this arrangement only applies to fishermen who can demonstrate that they depend for at least one fifth of their income on quotas that will be affected by Brexit.
Innovation crucial
“The government also wants the cutter fleet not only to become smaller, but also more sustainable,” explains Jan de Ruyter, ABN Amro’s fisheries sector banker. “In order to achieve that, innovation is crucial. It is important here that fishermen gain insight into fishing techniques that will still be allowed in the future.”
For the longer term, ABN Amro expects the demand for fish in the Netherlands and other EU countries to increase slightly. Sector banker De Ruyter sees a real need among fishermen to innovate and they have already invested a lot in making the fleet more sustainable. “Reducing seabed disturbance and increasing selective fishing are examples of this. In this respect, the government can further increase the future prospects. For example, fishermen must be given the space to do business, for example through experiments in wind farms and with new sustainable fishing techniques. It is important that they can be confident that they can recoup their investments and that financing and incentives will remain available.”
The Dutch cutter fishery in the North Sea consists of about 250 companies. The fleet catches approximately 80 million kilograms of fish annually and generates a total revenue of €250 million.