Tourists chase fishermen from the sea

Whale watching

Fishermen who catch herring have been thrown out of the Kaldfjord and Bergsfjorden in Troms. Considerations for the Northern Lights and observing whales count for more.

The member organization, Fiskebåt, the union of shipowners of the largest fishing vessels, believe the fishermen are suffering to accommodate tourism.

The ruling means that there is no longer a dispensation for catching herring and mackerel within the fjord.

The change that the Ministry of Industry and Fisheries has made means that vessels over 21 meters fishing for herring, and over 28 meters catching mackerel can no longer do so in Kaldfjord and Bergsfjorden.

‘If a large part of the fishing fleet now has to fish far offshore, it will reduce the availability of herring and mackerel, which results in lower profitability of the industry,’ wrote Managing Director, Audun Maråk, in ‘Fiskebåt til Nærings’ to the Ministry of Food and Fisheries.

‘It seems that the ministry has only taken the tourism industry into account. We are not against Norwegian tourism or whale watching. We can live peacefully together side by side in the two fjords,’ said Maråk to NRK news.

He believes that the decision, under the Sea Resources Act, section 16, must at least be based on consideration of that upon which the Sea Resources Act is based.

Fiskebåt therefore believes that the removal of the waiver of access is a clear breach of the administrative principles previously laid down by the fisheries authorities in regulating fisheries.

The change will greatly affect local fishermen, and the fishing industry in the North, as vessels will choose to land their catches in other
counties.

Fiskebåt therefore wants the ministry to reverse the changes made by allowing vessels to apply for exemption from the ban on fishing within the Bergsfjord and Kaldfjorden in Troms.

 

Source: nrk.no / Norway Today