2.2 



DENMARK 



The Danish high-seas fleet, according to Danish statistics, included only 14 high-seas vessels; 12 in the 500- 

 999-GRT range and 2 over 1,000-GRT in 1992.' Lloyd's Register reports that the Danish 1992 fleet included 83 

 high-seas vessels with a total tonnage of slightly less than 94,000 tons.' This fleet fishes from Greenland across 

 the North -Sea and into the Baltic Sea. Some fishing takes place off northern Norway and in the Bay of Biscay off 

 France. The Danish fleet is not expected to shift from its traditional North Sea fishing patterns. Approximately 

 10 Danish vessels attempted to evade strict Danish and international regulations on the harvesting of wild Atlantic 

 salmon by decommissioning their vessels and reflagging their ships in Panama. Danish authorities seized one of 

 these vessels, the Onkel Sam, in March 1990, when it stopped at the port of Hirtshals enroute to Poland with its 

 cargo of salmon. 



CONTENTS 



1. General Background 57 



2. Fleet Background 58 



3. Modernization Programs 58 



4. Deconmiissioning Programs 58 



5. Shipyards 59 



6. International Agreements 59 



7. Fleet Dispersal Plans 60 



Sources 60 



Endnotes 67 



1. General Background 



Denmark is the Community's leading fishing 

 nations, with a catch of nearly 1 .9 million tons in 

 1992.' Denmark ranked second after Norway in 

 terms of the total West European catch and 13th in 

 terms of the total world catch of fishery products in 

 1991. Danish fishermen receive annual quotas, 

 typically for cod, haddock, saithe, herring, and 

 mackerel from the European Community. Denmark's 

 catch is dominated by sandeels {Ammodytes sp.) 

 which are caught in prodigious quantities (855,000 

 tons in 1991) and used mostly to produce fishmeal. 

 Danish fishermen also catch large quantities of 

 Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) and Norway pout 



(Trisopterus esmarkii). Access to European sprat 

 {Sprattus sprattus) is limited to vessels under 22 

 meters. Denmark is a leading European trader in 

 fishery products. Demnark imports large quantities 

 of raw fish and processes this fish into high value 

 seafoods that are exported to markets around the 

 world."* Denmark exports were valued at over $2.2 

 billion in 1992.' Denmark's small, aging, fishing 

 fleet is not expected to grow significantly in the 

 future, despite remarkably high catches. Denmark's 

 future requirements for fish and shellfish will 

 increasingly be met by imports of raw products from 

 foreign suppliers. An overview of the Danish fishing 

 industry can be seen in tables 1-6. 



57 



