Fight for survival: Fischer in Schleswig-Holstein demand help!
Fight for survival: Fischer in Schleswig-Holstein demand help!
In Schleswig-Holstein, fishermen fight with drastically falling fish stocks and the threat of their livelihood. A current analysis of the Geomar Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research has identified overfishing as the main cause and calls for the creation of a politically independent institution to determine the fishing rates. The state fishing chair Lorenz Marckwardt emphasizes that German fishing has never overfished, but sees serious problems caused by environmental influences, agriculture, climate change and wind farms. Niclas Herbst from the CDU describes the Baltic Sea as a larger problem child than the North Sea and criticizes the poor oxygen content of the waters.
The cod and herring stocks are particularly affected. The latter has struggled with the historically worst values in recent years, while Dorsch is hardly available in marketable size. Currently, only 29 fishing cutters are still active in Schleswig-Holstein, of whom 19 crab cutters are. These dramatic declines have led to 90 % of the fishing companies are one-man businesses and many are on the abyss. A lack of infrastructure contributes to the difficulties.The demands from the industry
Marckwardt has requested support from politics and the administration to recover the fish stocks. He critically comments on unequal concessions made by agriculture and fishing, while fishing is under pressure. Autumn suggests that revenues from wind farm areas should also benefit fishing. Hullmann, a 68-year-old fisherman, is forced to sell his company, but does not find a buyer who illustrates the urgent situation in the industry.
While there are strict controls of the fishing quantities in Germany, there are concerns that other EU countries handle these regulations less strictly. Autumn confirms that there are extensive surveillance in the North Sea, but the numbers speak a clear language: In 2023, many fish stocks in the northeast Atlantic are still overfished. The EU had reformed fishing policy ten years ago to end an overfishing by 2020, but the goal was missed. This misery is transported to the public by warnings of the WWF, which warns of the long-term consequences of overfishing and the climate crisis for the fish stocks in the North and Baltic Sea.
Current developments in fish consumption
The living conditions for fish in the Baltic Sea are to be rated as bad. The decline in fish consumption in Germany is also alarming, with a decline to 434,413 tons of fish and seafood in 2022, which means a decrease of 11 percent compared to the previous year. Consumer expenditure for fish and seafood fell to 4.9 billion euros, a minus of 9 percent compared to the previous year. It should be emphasized that 80 percent of the fish and seafood consumed in Germany are imported.
statistics show that the highest fish consumption per capita in Bremen (6.6 kg), followed by Schleswig-Holstein (6.5 kg) and Hamburg/Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (6.0 kg). In view of the increasing threats from overfishing and environmental changes, environmentalists are calling for the establishment of large -scale protected areas without economic use, as well as better controlled fishing quantities at sea.
The situation of fishing in Schleswig-Holstein is therefore both a challenge for the environment and an existential threat to the fishermen itself. It remains to be seen which measures will take to support the endangered fish stocks and the fishermen concerned.
For more information, read the reports from kn-online.de , Tagesschau.de and wwf.de .
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| Ort | Schleswig-Holstein, Deutschland |
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