Fishermen must have sufficient room to fish

Flemish and Dutch fishermen are raising the alarm: the North Sea increasingly threatens to become a playground for NGOs and energy companies. Leaving ever less room for fishing. The N-VA supports the fishermen in their aim for sufficient fishing grounds in the North Sea: “We ask the Secretary of State to take the fisheries sector into account when reviewing marine spatial planning (MSP).”

The current planning, aimed at balancing all sea activities, dates from 2014 and applies until 2020. That specifically means that the review process will be both started and completed within the current legislature. It also means politicians can still make adjustments. “Reconciling various interests with each other in the new MSP will be an important challenge,” the N-VA states. “After all, our North Sea provides a great many opportunities, and we must take advantage of them. But the fisheries sector must not be the sector that always loses out.”

European fisheries policy

Fisheries are mainly a European issue, and Europe is declaring more and more areas of the North Sea to be protected natural assets. And wind farms are often built in good fishing areas, which then become off-limits to fishing activities. This forces fishermen to go and find new fishing areas. “The North Sea must not be a private playground for energy companies and so-called blue growth, the sustainable exploitation of seas and oceans,” the N-VA says.

Extra uncertainty: Brexit

With Brexit, Flemish fishermen face an additional uncertainty. After all, when the British leave the EU, they will regain control of their own fishery rights, while half of Flemish fishermen’s catch comes from British waters. Brexit could change that.