Challenging meetings with Swedish fishermen and administrators and 700 kilometres of bus travel marked three intensive days as FISH went on tour in southern and western Sweden with 18 Polish fishery stakeholders last week.
The study trip was part of the joint Eko-Unia/Our Earth Foundation/FISH project “The Baltic is in Poland; The Baltic is in Europe”.
The Polish group consisted of representatives of Fishermen’s associations, trade representatives, environmentalists, fishery administrators and the Marine Research station at Hel.
Three stated purposes for the trip were:
- To enable Polish stakeholders to learn about the Swedish fisheries management system, particularly in regard to data collection as well as control and enforcement efforts.
- To exchange experiences on fisheries management and the structure of the fishing sector in the two countries.
- To create a greater understanding of the similarities and differences in different countries, as well as facilitate a sharing of ideas.
Karlskrona was the starting point, convenient as both landing port for the ferry from Gdansk and a centre for cod fisheries on the Swedish southeast Baltic coast. Presentations there included both reviews of the Swedish control system, on land and at sea, and a meeting with representatives of a small-scale coastal fishermen’s organisation. Yvonne Walther, a long-time expert at the Board of Fisheries Institute of Marine Research, held the welcoming speech, and went on to talk on fish stock management and data collection in the Baltic.
Next day started – early – with a visit to the Gothenburg fish auction, with many species not common to Baltic Sea fishermen, and proceeded at the joint Coast Guard/Board of Fisheries Competence Centre in western Gothenburg.
Representatives of the Board outlined the organisation and responsibilities of their agency, as well and the Swedish control system and a Coast Guard officer described the activities of the Competence Centre, including its call-centre, a 24-hour help desk and receiver of called-in landing reports for fishery stakeholders, primarily fishermen at sea.
The trip went on to a short stop at the Havets hus (The house of the seas) at Lysekil, a spectacular aquarium dedicated to marine life in the surrounding waters – the Kattegat, the Skagerrak and the North Sea.
The last night of the trip was then spent at Tjärnö, just short of the Norwegian border, where the University of Gothenburg maintains a Marine Science Centre.
The following morning, before starting the long trip back to southernmost Sweden and the ferry leaving from Ystad, the group gathered for what proved to be the most engaging meeting of the tour: a representative of the local fishermen talked on the so-called Koster Agreement.
The marine life in the area surrounding the Koster islands north of Tjärnö, to be named a national park this summer, is unique, and an agreement has been set up with strict limitations for professional fishermen who want to fish there, and has done so for generations.
What was exceptional about the agreement was the process leading to it: the fishermen were involved the process, compromises were made – reluctantly – and courses have been arranged for the fishermen’s education.
“Yes, it has cost me, in new gear and in limited catches”, Robert Olsson replied to sceptical questions from his Polish colleagues, “but I think I will profit from it in the long run”.
“And I’m thinking of tomorrow’s catches. I want to make it possible for my children to take over some day”.