One fish stock after another is approaching the red zone close to collapse in Danish waters these years.
Take the cod, which once patrolled our seas in inexhaustible columns, but today almost has mythical status. Researchers are in fact recommending a total stop to catching it.
Nevertheless, several thousand tonnes of fish and shellfish are caught every year, hauled onto the fishing cutter, but which never get to see a fishmonger.
>
> I am deeply concerned about the report showing that there is such a high level of
> discards. And in reality also a very high level of illegal discards
>
Last year, just under 6,700 tonnes from parts of the Danish fishery were thrown back into the sea, according to a new report from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). That corresponds to 17 percent of the catch.
This is a serious matter, says Environment Minister Maria Reumert Gjerding (Socialist People's Party), who is responsible for fisheries.
- I am deeply concerned about the report showing that there is such a high level of discards. And in reality also a very high level of illegal discards. It is not permitted for a number of species to haul them out of the sea and then throw them back dead over the rail, she says.
Just under 2,000 tonnes of fish have been thrown into the sea illegally, according to the DTU report. That is approximately 30 percent of the total discards.
The minister therefore wants cameras on board fishing cutters more quickly.
- We know that what works when it comes to putting an end to illegal discards is installing camera monitoring on fishing vessels.
Also read: With camera surveillance on the cutters, unwanted catch increased. Nevertheless, the minister is dropping the requirement ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/med-kameraovervaagning-paa-kutterne-steg-uoensket-fangst-med-6000-procent-alligevel )
-----------------------------
Worst in the Norway lobster fishery
-----------------------------
When fish are caught with a bottom trawl and thrown back into the sea, flatfish and some of the animals with rougher skin can survive. But large quantities go back into the sea dead. That is what Marie Storr-Paulsen, the DTU researcher behind the report, says.
Especially when it comes to the illegal discards.
- An awful lot of it dies. Some have a chance of surviving, for example spurdogs, but the vast majority die, she says.
This is partly because hauls with bottom trawls can last many hours. While the large net is being filled, fish are crushed or suffer damage to their internal organs. They can also suffocate when they are taken out of the water and hang in the net or wait to be sorted on board the ship, explains Marie Storr-Paulsen.
About half of what a cutter hauls on board in the hunt for Norway lobsters in Kattegat is thrown out again, according to the report. (Photo: © Niels Christian Vilmann, Ritzau Scanpix)
The largest share of discards is seen in the fishery for the attractive Norway lobster in Kattegat. It is valuable to the fisherman and popular on the dinner table because the meat in the tails is firm and sweet.
But they are caught with nets with small meshes, and therefore many other species end up in the catch. In 2025, this group of fishermen in Kattegat threw just as many tonnes of fish and shellfish out, according to the report, as they brought ashore.
A large part is legal discarding, either because the species is assessed to have a high survival rate, or because there is no quota for the species.
In the Norway lobster fishery, virtually all poor cod and whiting and quite a lot of plaice are thrown out – which is not illegal. 44.6 tonnes of the now rare Kattegat cod also went overboard – that, on the other hand, is illegal.
-----------------------
DN: "The piglets of the sea"
-----------------------
The Danish Society for Nature Conservation compares the discards to the dead piglets that the government now wants to take action against, and which feature prominently in the public debate.
>
> It is a colossal waste of life in a sea that is already under severe
> pressure
>
- Everyone knows the story of the 25,000 piglets that die in Danish agriculture every day. But the enormous mortality among fish and other marine animals, which especially bottom trawl fishing causes, is a completely overlooked story, says director Lars Midtiby.
- It is a colossal waste of life in a sea that is already under severe pressure.
Lars Midtiby points out that the report also shows large discards in protected marine areas.
In the Wadden Sea area, the fishery is exceptionally allowed to discard everything. The area is a Natura 2000 site and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the fishermen catch rays using quite small nets. That is why tonnes of tiny flatfish the size of postage stamps also end up in the catch.
Also read: Ban on bottom trawling looks set to bypass protected sea with intensive fishing: "Very, very, very serious" ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/forbud-mod-bundtrawl-staar-til-gaa-uden-om-beskyttet-hav-med-intenst-fiskeri-meget )
In 2025, fishermen in the Wadden Sea legally threw 36.5 percent of the catch back into the sea. Mostly rays, but also for example herring, which struggle to survive the trip in the net. Herring have a protective layer of mucus, so they cannot tolerate bacteria, explains the DTU researcher.
- A herring you only have to look at, and it dies, says Marie Storr-Paulsen.
----------------------------
Fishermen acknowledge problems
----------------------------
The calculations are based on fishing trips where fishermen have had a DTU observer on board and cover approximately one percent of the trips that year.
The Danish Fishermen's Association recognises the problem.
- I acknowledge that we have a problem with discards, and we are working on solving it, says chairman Svend-Erik Andersen.
Svend-Erik Andersen wants more freedom in the choice of fishing gear, so that more unwanted species can slip free of the net and avoid a trip on deck, he says.
He supports cameras on the cutters, but wants more flexibility regarding which gear they are allowed to use, so that fishermen can choose gear that better sorts out unwanted catch, he says and calls the lack of political action "frustrating."
- We have ourselves proposed that we introduce fully documented fisheries. But then the choice of gear also has to be freer. We were previously promised that by the politicians, but they have never delivered on that part. We hope that we can cooperate with the minister on that, says Svend-Erik Andersen.
Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.