facilities make the Netherlands a vital link in intra- 

 European trade.' The Dutch fleet in 1990 included 

 573 coastal vessels (called "cutters"), 148 dredgers 

 (which harvest cockles, mussels, and oysters), 27 

 stem trawlers and/or beamers, and 14 high-seas 

 trawlers.' The high-seas vessels can either fish or 

 operate as a "klondykers" (buying fish caught by 

 others), processing and delivering the catch to distant 

 ports as a "reefer" (refrigerated transport). Dutch 

 coastal fisheries are tightly regulated and the Dutch 

 government is attempting to reduce the size of the 

 coastal fleets in compliance with EC directives. By 

 all standards, the Dutch fishing fleet is considered 

 very modem and cost-effective.' Dutch fishermen 

 also have a reputation for overfishing among other 

 European fishermen.* This may be attributed to the 

 size and efficiency of some of Holland's newest 

 vessels which fish for mackerel, horse mackerel, and 

 herring in EC waters and on the high-seas.' Dutch 

 officials report that 1990 and 1991 were very 

 profitable for Dutch fishermen, thanks to increasing 

 prices for fish and shellfish on the Dutch and export 

 markets. An overview of the Dutch fishing industry 

 can be seen in tables 1-3. 



2. Fleet Background 



Dutch fishermen faced many of the difficulties 

 encountered by other European fishermen in the 

 1970s and 1980s. These included a relatively short 

 coastline of some 367 kilometers, a large fleet of 

 small, aging vessels, reliance on distant fishing 

 grounds (in the English Channel, North Sea, and off 

 Ireland) and the loss of some of these fishing grounds 

 when many nations decided to extend their 

 jurisdictions out to 200-miles. Dutch fishermen also 

 had to deal with increasingly strict fish quotas and the 

 problems of overfishing, rising fuel prices, and 

 unstable prices for fish products in the 1970s and 

 early 1980s. The Dutch reacted to the challenge by 



(1) increasing their imports of fish and shellfish, and 



(2) by modernizing their fisheries. The commitment 

 to modernization can be seen in the development of 

 their high-seas fishing fleet. 



Dutch fishermen were among the first Europeans 

 to build and operate high-seas fishing vessels. The 

 Yke (540-GRT), the Cornelis Vrolijk Fzn (606-GRT), 

 and the Zeehaan (559-GRT) are stem trawlers built 

 in Dutch shipyards in 1966.'" The Cornelis Vrolijk 

 Fzn was a popular name, since another trawler 



bearing that name was built in 1980; a 1,840-GRT 

 vessel described as a "jumbo-sized freezer stem 

 trawler" when the ship was delivered. The Boeier. 

 a new high-capacity freezer trawler from the 

 Ysselwerf Shipyard near Rotterdam, was also 

 delivered in 1980. In 1981, several new Dutch-built 

 stem trawlers were launched, including: Annie 

 Hillina, Schoener, Johanna Maria, and Klipper.^' 

 These new vessels were designed to fish for herring, 

 horse mackerel, and mackerel. The Dutch catch of 

 mackerel went from 11,100 tons in 1971 to an 

 estimated 96,000 tons in 1982. Much of the 

 mackerel catch was delivered to clients in Africa, 

 mostly in Nigeria.'^ In 1983, the Dutch began 

 discussions with the United States and started fishing 

 off the Atlantic coast of the United States in 1984.'^ 

 This was the same year that the Alida was delivered 

 to A. van der Zwan of Scheveningen; the vessel was 

 built to catch and freeze large quantities of 

 mackerel." The Dirk Dirk (3,019-GRT) was also 

 delivered in 1984 and briefly held the honor of being 

 Holland's largest fishing vessel." The Netherlands 

 had the finest fleet of fishing vessels operating 

 anywhere in the world by 1984." This was also the 

 year that Dutch fishery officials first expressed the 

 concem that the Dutch fleet was growing too quickly 

 and that quotas might have to be reduced in the next 

 few years.''' In 1985, the supertrawlers Astrid and 

 Holland were launched in Dutch shipyards. The 

 Astrid replaced the Dirk Dirk as Holland's largest 

 vessel at 98 meters in length." The Dutch 

 Govemment was required by the EC in 1986 to 

 reduce the size of its fleet; most of this effort was 

 directed at the beam trawler fleet and other vessels 

 under 500-GRT. The Dutch high-seas fleet, which 

 operated well beyond Holland's fishing grounds, was 

 also affected." The Dutch fleet began directing their 

 efforts at horse mackerel and began developing 

 markets for this fish in Africa and Asia in 1986.^° 

 Dutch fishermen took delivery of the Tetman Hette 

 from the Polish Centromor shipbuilding organization 

 in July 1988. The ship was a B-674-class freezer 

 trawler designed to fish for herring.^' The third 

 vessel named Cornelis Vrolijk Fzn (6, 500-GRT) was 

 launched in 1988." The ship was too big to berth at 

 its home port!'^ The Dutch Seafrozen Fish 

 Foundation operates the Cornelis Vrolijk Fzn, which 

 was the world's largest stem trawler when it was 

 built in the YVC Ysselwerft shipyards in Rotterdam. 

 The vessel was able to freeze up to 250 tons per 

 day, making it the largest pelagic fishing vessel 



120 



