Photo: folketinget
Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Eva Kjer Hansen, who is behind the trial, was at the fishing harbour of the northern Zealand town of Gilleleje on 11th September to visit Tiki, one of the six vessels in the trial. The trial is voluntary. The fishermen are obliged to register and account for all their catches, and they have accordingly been allotted an increase in the vessel quota equivalent to average discard levels.
“Photographic documentation makes it possible for us to see what the fishermen catch, and the complete documentation gives us an opportunity to focus closely on the fish that are discarded,” says Eva Kjer Hansen.
The trial has caught the interest of people in the fishing trade and journalists from many parts of the world, and it forms a part of the minister’s coming proposals for a reform of the common European fisheries policy.
“It is obvious that the fisheries policy in the EU has not functioned optimally,” says Eva Kjer Hansen. “This is part of the Danish proposals for a new model that can benefit both the fishermen and the fish.”
Eva Kjer Hansen will present her proposals for a new fisheries policy to her minister colleagues at a council meeting on 29th and 30th September.