Apart from the possibility that someone might like to cast a line, there are no real fishermen among the fifteen editors of SWZ|Maritime. And yet, here is a November issue that includes a full-fledged special on fishing. This is the result and strength of SWZ|Maritime as a knowledge network in the broad maritime sector. The editors each bring a network of contacts with them, enabling SWZ to function as a platform for exchanging knowledge in the form of good articles.
In this case, it was our editor Willem de Jong as coordinator and the consultant Frans Veenstra of Veenstra Fisheries Consultancy, who is part of our network, who appealed to their relations in the fishing industry to compile another series of interesting and valuable articles on Dutch fishing. In many cases, they were knowledge carriers who were willing to share their knowledge on request and thus provide insight into current developments.
As a sector, the Dutch sea fishery has a hard time of it. Europe’s ban on electric pulse fishing, a Dutch invention par excellence, and the Brexit, which resulted in the fishermen losing a large part of their catch areas, have once again set back our fisheries. But Dutch fishermen do not give up and continue to develop and innovate.
This pure entrepreneurship often leads to envy in neighbouring countries. Envy that sometimes leads to aggression, especially in Denmark and France, but also to the realisation that maybe those darn Dutch fishermen weren’t doing so badly after all. Dutch shipyards are increasingly seeing clients from Belgium and France. A better compliment for the ingenuity and quality of Dutch shipbuilding in the fishing industry could not be given. An example of that ingenuity is the ship that the Groningen shipyard Nauplius built for delousing farmed salmon.
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s October 2021 issue: ‘Finally, we can meet again in real life’
Another niche sector in which Dutch sea fishery has become big is pelagic fishing. With companies such as Cornelis Vrolijk, Jaczon, Parlevliet & Van der Plas and W. van der Zwan, this is the sector of the truly global ocean fishery, originally mainly in North Atlantic waters but now also in the oceans around Africa and Australia. With their catches, these Dutch companies supply a large part of the world population with fresh fish.
This is editor-in-chief Antoon Oosting’s editorial accompanying the November 2021 issue. Our digital archive is once again available to subscribers. Subscribers can register here to gain access. Not yet a subscriber? Visit our subscription page.
The articles in SWZ|Maritime’s November 2021 issue
In addition to the regular sections such as Dutch news, Markets, Maritime monthly, Global news, Book reviews, Mars Report and news from the KNVTS, the articles (some in Dutch) in the November issue are:
- De prijswinnaars van het Maritime Awards Gala (The Maritime Awards Gala winners)
- De uitdagingen van een benarde sector (The challenges of the fishing industry)
- Bridging the gap to climate smart fishing vessel design
- Stabiliteitsproblemen kotter Mary Kate (Stability issues of trawler Mary Kate)
- Waterspray als alternatief voor de puls (Waterspray as an alternative to pulse fishing)
- ‘Voor 95 procent zero kotter kan in 2030’ (A 95 per cent zero trawler is possible in 2030)
- Pelagische industrie zoekt het zelf uit (Pelagic fishing industry does its own research)
- Design is the game changer: The new breed of workboats addresses the needs of crew, fish and the environment
- Laser beam welding
Picture: Electric ferry Bryggen, designed and built by Damen Shipyards, has won the KNVTS Ship of the Year Award 2021 (photo Damen and the cover picture of SWZ|Maritime’s November 2021 issue).
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s September 2021 issue: ‘Dutch superyachts are serious business’