A crazy thought when seeing an empty fish auction in IJmuiden: it has recently become the largest in the Netherlands. “Can you check what there is in other exits”, Cor Lokker laughs. He sees the humor in it, but is also concerned about fishing. “We don’t know where we stand.”
In search of the soul of the region, NH visited the fish auction in IJmuiden. That was a bit of a shock: anyone who watches an episode of the NH Lives series from nine years ago sees a much busier and busier fish auction.
It is not difficult to guess why less is being caught now: the fish prices are fine, that is not the reason, thinks Lokker. And it is certainly not the will to work hard: “You do your best for it all your life.”
One fool in Russia
But Putin’s Russia invasion of Ukraine causes damage as much as 2,200 kilometers westward. Lokker: “Then one madman will come to Russia and he will rule everything… and because of the oil prices it will no longer be feasible in the long run. There must be compensation for that,” thinks Lokker.
And so ‘about ten’ cutters are stationary in the IJmuiden harbour. “It’s a drama, many fishermen stop doing it,” Lokker knows.
In the IJmond episode of the NH Zomertoer 2022: Soul of the region, presenter Koen Bugteren talks with special IJmond residents, and visits, among other things, Fort Island in IJmuiden.