The hard winter of 2010 resulted in an almost 30-year high in payouts to Swedish fishermen locked in by the ice, and this year’s situation does not appear to be easier on them, the Swedish Radio reports.
Statistics from the Swedish Fishermen’s Association show that 6.2 million SEK (€693,000) was paid out from the organisation’s unemployment fund in 2010 to members kept away from their business by the ice along the coasts and in the lakes, 42 percent of the total contributions from the fund. That portion is the highest since 1987, when it was 49 percent, the Swedish Radio reported, adding that fishermen saw no better prospects for this year.