2.1 



BELGIUM 



Belgium decommissioned its only high-seas vessel, the John, in 1990. Belgium has no vessels to deploy 

 and the authors are not aware of any plans to build or buy any replacement vessels. A Belgium firm is involved 

 in the reflagging of Taiwanese longline vessels in Honduras. 



CONTENTS 



1. General Background 49 



2. Fleet Background 49 



3. Modernization Programs 50 



4. Decommissioning Programs 50 



5. Shipyards 50 



6. International Agreements 50 



7. Fleet Dispersal Plans 51 



Sources 51 



Endnotes 55 



1. General Background 



The Belgian fishing fleet, one of the smallest 

 in Western Europe, landed 36,609 tons of fish in 

 1992. The fleet is deployed in coastal fisheries along 

 the Belgian coast and neighboring countries and 

 catches mostly plaice, cod, dogfish, sole, whiting, 

 turbot, lemon sole, skate, and monkfish. This fish is 

 landed fresh commanding high prices in the local 

 market. With a coastline of only about 73 kilometers 

 there is only a limited future for fishing.' There is 

 little chance that Belgian vessels will appear in distant 

 waters in the next few years because the Belgian 

 coastal fleet is not capable of distant-water operations 

 and fishermen have no current plans to acquire 

 distant-water vessels. Belgium is Western Europe's 

 sixth largest market for fishery products. 



2. Fleet Background 



The Belgian fishing industry has received 

 support from the Belgian Government for many 

 years. The Maritime Credit Act of 1948 was an 

 early effort by the Belgian govenmient to provide 

 assistance in the construction of fishing vessels. 

 Govenunent efforts to modernize or reduce the 

 fishing fleet are restricted to vessels under 500-GRT 

 as the country had only one high-seas vessel. Belgian 

 fishermen operated the John, a 555-GRT vessel, for 

 nearly two decades, but this vessel was finally 

 decommissioned in 1990. The Belgian fishing fleet 

 consisted of 206 vessels with an estimated 27,089- 

 GRT.2 



49 



