Danish fishing and processing industry welcomes ruling of Arbitration Tribunal on EU-UK sandeel dispute

Marine Ingredients Denmark, Danish Pelagic Producer Organisation, and Danish Fishers PO welcome the final ruling by the Arbitration Tribunal, established under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) to settle the EU-UK sandeel dispute, which agreed with the EU’s interpretation of several key issues.

Of particular importance to the Danish industry, the Arbitration Tribunal affirmed the importance of having regard to the principle of applying proportionate measures for the conservation and management of fisheries resources.

The Arbitration Tribunal found that the UK prohibition of fishing sandeel in English waters of the North Sea did not comply with the proportionality principle under the TCA.

Consequently, the prohibition breached the UK’s obligation to grant EU vessels full access to those waters for sandeel fishing.

It is our profound hope that the final ruling will pave the way for Danish fishers to regain access to British waters in the near future – and once again allowing them to fully and sustainably utilize the quota of Sandeel, which is an important source for the fishmeal and fish oil industry.

The sandeel fishery is managed based on ICES advice, which is widely regarded as the most robust and well-tested form of scientific guidance in European fisheries management. Each year, scientific institutions conduct acoustic and biological surveys to produce robust stock assessments, forming the basis for evidence-based decision-making on the following year’s fishing opportunities.

Since 2014, the average annual value of landings of sandeel by Danish fishers has been more than €31 million.

Since 2015, the average annual value of marine ingredients produced in Denmark from sandeel across all areas has been €59 million.

Marine Ingredients Denmark, Danish Pelagic Producer Organisation and Danish Fishers PO thank the European Commission for the immense effort it has put in the work to get this result. We would also like to express our gratitude to the Danish government in its tireless effort to convince other parties that the prohibition of fishing Sandeel did not comply with the provisions in the TCA, and that EU should use the dispute settlement procedure under the TCA.

Finally, we wish to thank the Danish members of the European Parliament who supported us during this.

For further contact:

Anne Mette Bæk, CEO, Marine Ingredients Denmark, +45 50 47 77 49

Esben Sverdrup-Jensen, CEO, Danish Pelagic Producer Organisation, +45 61 66 09 78

Kenn Skau Fischer, CEO, Danish Fishers PO, +45 51 19 95 37