Hendrik would easily account for at least 521 letters. From those festively crafted packages full of references to Ariel, The Shape of Water and Aquaman, with photos of beautiful women posing in front of their aquarium or at a fruit de mer plateau. Staying on a boat, too. Make it 600.
Yes, Hendrik Kramer fits perfectly into the format: handsome fashion model, works with animals, speaks with love about his profession. As a child he went along with his father in all kinds of weather, and now that Hendrik has taken over the family business, he innovates enthusiastically. Yet something is missing.
Somehow, meeting Hendrik on Sunday evening at the KRO was reminiscent of the dozens of eager dairy farmers, goat breeders, horticulturists and fruit growers who, in the meanwhile, have grown up in twelve seasons. Farmer seeks wife introduced to us. But Hendrik is not a farmer, Hendrik is a fisherman. It alliterates nicely for a new TV format. Although the grey, windy reality of professional fishing is miles away from the idyllic TV farm life, where frisky foals merrily trot across steaming meadows at sunrise and it seems like eternal spring.
Hendrik has it even harder than the popular dairy farmer Jouke, who had to plow through 434 love letters in episode 2 of the farmer dating program. After all, Hendrik is not just any fisherman, but a sustainable fisherman – against the odds. The excellent research program pointer brought a poignant picture on Sunday of how his future-proof, planet-conscious and therefore slightly more expensive approach is met with screaming disinterest from fish auctions, wholesalers and customers. And that while Dutch regulations meanwhile are pushing the fishing industry imperturbably towards sustainability.
In summer Hendrik fishes plaice, in winter squid, sounds romantic, doesn’t it? He recently bought a state-of-the-art ship that uses 60 percent less fuel. He can also minimize the bycatch with very expensive underwater equipment. The result: his sustainable fish is 25 percent more expensive. And nobody wants to pay that. The words of the Ukrainian former footballer Evgeniy Levchenko also apply here, who played at Humberto said about the Dutch attitude towards Russia: ‘The refrigerator beats norms and values.’
While farmer Jouke will face a bright future in the coming weeks, Hendrik fears bankruptcy at the end of the year. Yes, sustainable fishing could use some loving propaganda à la Farmer seeks wife use.
After Hendrik we meet shrimp fisherman Henk, with his friendly brush eyebrows certainly good for 96 letters. Henk even takes care of baby shrimps.
He once had a speed date with a large supermarket, but this Albert deliberately competed with him from the shelves and then let him pay for the loss himself. And is the government doing something for sustainable fishermen such as Hendrik and Henk? To reporter Teun van der Keuken, Minister Henk Staghouwer (CU) of Agriculture and Fisheries makes a telling slip of the tongue. First the minister would invite Hendrik to the table, he promised. “And based on that I’m going to act.”
Fisherman looking for a safety net. Who will turn the tide for Hendrik and Henk? You can post to pointer.nl