West Coast ports complement with new perspectives for the future

The traditional fishing ports on the west coast of Jutland are keeping fishing as the foundation for the ports' existence and growth, but supplementing it with new niche businesses to ensure further development and growth for the ports and the surrounding communities. These were the clear signals from the six west coast ports when the ports gathered for their annual meeting in Hirtshals on Thursday, September 10, 2015. At the same time as the ports are working purposefully to support a positive development in the fishing industries, the ports are also looking at the possibilities of creating further growth and renewal by developing niche businesses based on the individual port's geographical opportunities and the fields of competence and brands that have been built up locally. Based on the fact that the six fishing ports today provide the framework for around 90% of Danish fish landings, all the ports have identified new perspectives and complementary niche businesses. In this way, the ports are helping to set an agenda for the future that includes growth, development and new jobs. In addition to all the ports working with business-oriented initiatives, some of the ports are realizing expansion projects, where investments are based on the ports' own financial latitude and customer demand. In this way, the ports are demonstrating both a willingness and a business sense to promote development from a local standpoint. In 2014 - 2016, investments will again be made in the expansion of the ports of Thyborøn, Hvide Sande, Skagen and Hirtshals. Fishing is the mainstay of the economy At the annual meeting in Hirtshals, the boards and managements of Thyborøn, Skagen, Hanstholm, Hvide Sande, Thorsminde and Hirtshals ports were gathered to discuss issues affecting the ports in general. In order to make the operation of the fishing ports more stable and at the same time to help ensure the ports' customers - the fishing fleet - the best possible framework conditions, the ports want the predictability of fisheries regulation to be significantly better. The fishing ports want the regulation of quotas to be announced to the industry in good time so that the economy of the individual vessel and the fishery itself can be optimally planned. For example, announcements about this year's tobacco quotas and area divisions clearly showed that the fishery was neither economically nor planning-wise optimal. The West Coast ports therefore call for a political effort to ensure that the regulation of fisheries - including announcements of quotas - in addition to regulating sustainable fishing, will also support optimal conditions for the fishing fleet's planning of the fishery. The fishing ports annually handle large quantities of waste that is fished out of the sea during fishing and which the ports are obliged to receive. The West Coast ports are interested in cooperating with the state to solve this common environmental challenge in a simple way and without bureaucratic systems. Today, the fishing ports are charged fees for the disposal of waste produced by others, which is against the "polluter pays" principle. In the future, the ports envision a model where they continue to manage the waste at their own expense, while there is a full or partial exemption from waste fees for waste generated by parties other than fishermen and ports. For further information. Contact Bjarne Løf Henriksen, Danish Ports, and read more news from Danish Ports here.