b. Growing competition 



3. Modernization Programs 



Icelandic vessels began landing fresh fish in FRG 

 ports in the early IQSOs.^" The Icelandic fishermen 

 were attracted by the high prices and growing 

 demand for fresh seafood, particularly cod and 

 redfish, on German markets. As German vessels 

 struggled to locate new fishing grounds, the Icelandic 

 fleets began increasing their shipments. Dutch 

 fishermen also began shipping increasing quantities of 

 mackerel which kept prices low. Shipments of fresh 

 fish from Grimsby and Hull, in the U.K., into 

 German ports were also increasing to the detriment of 

 German fishermen.-' By 1986, it was apparent that 

 the FRG fishing fleet was unable to meet the 

 booming demand for fish in the FRG market and that 

 imports of fish would increasingly be needed." 

 Shipments of raw, semi-processed and fully processed 

 seafoods from Norway and Deimiark have also 

 increased in recent years at prices that made it 

 difficult for the German fishing fleet to compete. 



c. Declining stocks: 



The harvest of many key species, including cod, 

 hake, haddock, and other groundfish declined as 

 overfishing, biological fluctuations, and oceanic 

 conditions reduced the biomass of these species, 

 especially in the North Sea where competition for 

 limited resources was growing stronger. Lower 

 fishing quotas, increasing competition, and loss of 

 traditional fishing grounds negatively impacted the 

 German fleet. 



d. Other factors: 



The decline in the German fishing fleet began in 

 the 1960s and continued through the 1980s. Except 

 for a brief flurry of construction during the years 

 between 1971 and 1974, there were few modem 

 vessels added to the fishing fleet; by 1986, it was 

 obvious that the newest vessels - 14 Bremen-class 

 stem trawlers — could no longer operate profitably. 

 Efforts to operate joint ventures in Argentina and 

 New Zealand and in the Seychelles also were 

 unsatisfactory. Ultimately, it appears that it simply 

 became more profitable for German processors to 

 import fishery products from the Netherlands, 

 Norway, Iceland, and Denmark than to maintain 

 expensive and continually less efficient vessels. 



The FRG fishing fleet boasted of being one of 

 the most efficient in the world in the 1960s. In 1971- 

 74, a total of 14 new high-seas Bremen-cleiss stem 

 trawlers of 3,180-GRT were built in FRG 

 shipyards." Although FRG shipyards continue to 

 produce new vessels from time to time, there have 

 been no other sustained efforts to modemize the FRG 

 fishing fleet since the early 1970s. 



4. Decommissioning Programs 



The FRG high-seas fleet decreased from 32 

 vessels in 1984 to 17 vessels in 1986. Three large 

 factoryships, the Wesermiiende, Geestemiiende, and 

 Stuttgart were sold the People's Republic of China as 

 part of this reduction process. The FRG also sold the 

 Friedrich Basse to the Republic of Korea; the vessel 

 had formerly fished off Alaska. -'' The FRG is 

 obliged to meet decommissioning programs 

 established by the EC. The FRG has complied 

 closely with these decommissioning guidelines and is 

 expected to continue to do so in the future.'^ 



5. Shipyards 



German shipyards produce high quality fishing 

 vessels, but they did not build many new fishing 

 vessels between 1974 and 1988. In 1988, the 

 Mutzelfeldt Werft of Cuxhaven began work on the 

 first of 2 wet fish trawlers to have been built in 

 German shipyards in many years. The vessels were 

 built for Deutsche Fischfang-Union GmbH which also 

 owns the Kiel and Wiesbaden. In 1989, the Jan 

 Maria, a 5,845-GRT pelagic stem trawler was 

 christened in Bremerhaven. The vessel was 

 specifically built to catch Germany's quota of herring 

 and mackerel; FRG vessels caught only 18 percent of 

 the nation's 71,000 ton herring quota in 1987.-* 

 Most FRG vessels are designed to catch and process 

 high value cod or other groundfish. The Jan Maria 

 was built for Katwijk Aan Zee of the Netherlands. 

 The Dutch company established the German-based 

 Doggerbank Seefischerei GmbH, a company which 

 will operate the vessel under the German-flag. 

 Doggerbank Seefischerei GmbH operated two other 

 former Dutch factory ships, the Dirk Diederik and the 

 old Jan Maria. -^ The Cuxhaven, a wet fish filleter 

 was launched in 1990 from the Muzelfeldwerft yards 

 in Cuxhaven for Deutsche Fischfang-Union. The 



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