Dossier
The German fishing fleet
Jörg Berkenhagen | 28.11.2024
What is the structure of German fisheries? How much fish is imported and exported, which species generate which revenues? And how can brexit change the situation in EU seas? You will find answers in the following dossier.
Not all fishermen are the same. Their economic situation and prospects are as varied as their equipment – from modern ocean-going vessels to traditional cutters with artisanal fishing techniques.
German marine fishermen land fish in the order of 200,000 tons per year at home and abroad. This compares with domestic consumption that is five times as high – around 1.15 million tons; per capita consumption in Germany is around 13 kg of catch weight. By comparison, the global average is around 21 kg catch weight.
The German fishing fleet consists of about 1,150 vessels and is operated by about 750 companies. This seems little given the presence of fishing in the media. Seven ocean-going trawlers owned by international commercial enterprises alone land roughly three quarters of the German catch. The bulk of the German fishing fleet consists of about 850 small fixed netters up to 12 metres in length, which operate within sight of the Baltic coast and contribute less than 2% of the German catch. In between, there are about 180 shrimp trawlers, fishing excusively in the North Sea, and nearly 50 vessels of 10 to 40 metres in length that use trawls to catch cod, flatfish and saithe, among other species, in the North and Baltic Seas.
The number of dependent employees in marine fisheries throughout Germany is around 550. In addition, there are about 580 self-employed persons (as of 2023).
We have compiled a brief characteristic of the German fishing fleet below:
High seas fishery can be divided into pelagic (= in the open water zone) and demersal (= close to the sea floor) fishing.
In the pelagic fishery, three large (over 80 m) and two smaller (around 55 m) deep-sea vessels were registered in 2023, fishing mainly for herring, horse mackerel, blue whiting and mackerel in the North Sea and western British waters. Fishing trips to the waters of Mauritania and Western Sahara and occasionally to the South Pacific have also been made in recent years.
Four vessels between 80 and 90 meters in length were assigned to the demersal deep-sea fishery in 2023, operating almost exclusively in the North Atlantic. Main target species are Greenland halibut and redfish in Greenland waters and cod, saithe and haddock in the Northeast Atlantic.
The trawlers compete with other global operators and are equipped with very modern equipment throughout – three of the four demersal vessels are newbuildings. Based on the average of recent years, German deep-sea fishing is currently considered profitable. However, the demersal deep-sea trawlers are heavily dependent on quotas available under third-country agreements with Greenland and Norway, respectively. The pelagic sector is currently strongly affected by the quota reduction in British waters as a result of the Brexit negotiations, which is weighing on the economic result. The latest offshore trawler has been equipped to be able to fish both pelagic and demersal in order to respond more flexibly to changes in fishing opportunities.
Compared to deep-sea fishing, the situation is quite different for the fixed netters. These are small vessels under 12 m in length that operate almost exclusively in the Baltic Sea. Their number has declined sharply over the past decade; in 2023, there were still about 850 registered vessels.
A major reason for the decline is that fishing quotas for the important target species of cod and herring have fallen drastically in the Baltic Sea in recent years. Only a small proportion of the cutters are operated on a full-time basis. Often, the fishermen make a significant living from other activities or pursue fishing merely as a hobby. Often, a fisherman owns several vessels, some of which are designed for different purposes.
So far, only on rare occasions is the catch of fixed netters advertised as a regional speciality, with the corresponding opportunities to generate added value. The economic situation has been critical for years and has become a threat to the survival of many of the enterprises still active. The quotas for Baltic Sea herring and cod remained at a very low level in 2024.
Since the critical situation for the stocks of herring and cod in the Baltic Sea is not expected to improve in the near future, politicians are not only providing bridging aid but also subsidies for the permanent decommissioning of cutters. It is foreseeable that this will also reduce the number of ports in which fixed netters are moored – with negative effects also on other economic sectors such as tourism.
Shrimp trawlers are almost exclusively operated as family enterprises – one vessel per owner. The catch consist almost exclusively of brown shrimp (Crangon crangon), a species without quota limitation which is abundant mainly in the German Bight. However, the marketable quantity is limited. Moreover, the wholesale trade is organised on a quasi-monopolistic basis and the power of fishermen in the market remains limited, despite the trend towards organising themselves into producer groups.
Shrimp fishermen using beam trawlers can only occasionally switch to other species of fish when fishing for shrimps is uneconomic, as most of them do not have quotas for them. In parallel, individual shrimp fishermen have turned to trap fishing to catch the non-quota species of crab and lobster. The brown shrimp fishery has proven to be profitable over the years, with wide fluctuations. After good previous years, the years 2019 to 2021 were characterized by sharp drops in profits. Reduced catches could not be compensated for by higher prices. 2022 and 2023 were marked by high fuel prices, but were more satisfactory than previous years. As a result, the number of companies has continued to decline. In 2023, around 160 shrimp boats were still registered.
There have been a total of six new buildings since 2004, the most recent vehicle is from 2010. Hardly any company dares to invest the sum of well over one million euros required for a new building because the prospects are viewed as too uncertain. This was reinforced by the discussion about the exclusion of bottom-touching nets in marine protected areas.
In 2023, 40 trawlers under 40 m in length were registered. In the North Sea they mainly catch saithe, cod, haddock, herring and plaice, in the Baltic Sea mainly herring, cod and sprat. Fishing vessels using passive gear ≥ 12 m accounted for 13 vessels. In western waters they mainly fish anglerfish and deep-sea crab, in the North Sea cod, plaice and sole, in the Baltic Sea the main target species were herring and cod. However, due to the historically low quotas for the Baltic Sea stocks, this fishery has virtually come to a standstill. With these species, fishermen are in competition with companies from other nations that use the same fishing grounds in the North and Baltic Seas, as well as with fish that comes from other fishing areas.
Demersal trawling is concentrated in a few producer groups, in which the fishermen can represent their interests in a bundled way. For example, certain fisheries could be certified by the MSC (Marine Stewardship Council), a label for sustainable seafood which is gaining more and more importance for marketing. Thanks to modern management, the available quotas are efficiently distributed internally and fished out. In addition, some of these organisations process and market their catches themselves, thereby generating additional added value.
Through these measures, bottom trawlers have been able to improve their market position and cost structure. In addition, they have invested in modernisation on a larger scale.
The number of companies based on the Baltic Sea continues to decline in view of the ongoing dramatic earnings situation. Compensation payments for lost catches currently represent a significant revenue component. In addition, premiums are also granted for final decommissioning. Since it is not foreseeable that the stocks will recover in the short term, further operational tasks are to be expected here.
