Government Contacts & Information Resources for
Commercial Fishing, Seafood, Aquaculture, Marine & Oceans in Netherlands (Holland)

Europêche - Association of national organisations of fishing enterprises in the European Union.

European Commission - Fisheries - The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the European Union's instrument for the management of fisheries and aquaculture. It was created to manage a common resource and to meet the obligation set in the original Treaties of the then European Community. Because fish are a natural and mobile resource they are considered as common property. In addition, the Treaties which created the Community stated that there should be a common policy in this area, that is, common rules adopted at EU level and implemented in all Member States.

European Association of Fish Producers’ Organisations (EAPO) - European Association of Fish Producers Organisations.

The North Sea Commission Fisheries Partnership was founded to promote co-operation between scientists and fishers in monitoring and managing fisheries in the North Sea.

Fishery and Aquaculture Country Profile for Holland - Netherlands - aquatic species caught by country or area, by species items, by FAO major fishing areas, and year, for all commercial, industrial, recreational and subsistence purposes. The harvest from mariculture, aquaculture and other kinds of fish farming is also included.

Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority - The three main tasks of the Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority are: supervision, risk assessment and risk communication. Other important activities are incident and crisis management and policy advice for the Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. A significant part of its work involves liaising with other ministries.

Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
The Netherlands is one of the smallest and most densely populated countries in the world. Hence the pressure on the rural area is considerable. People have to live, work and relax there. Besides, space is needed for agricultural production and transport, while valuable nature areas and unique landscapes must be conserved for future generations. A balance must continually be struck between the various uses of the rural area. The motto of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality therefore is 'Food production and rural areas of international standing'.

Dutch Fish Marketing Board
Over the years the Dutch fishing industry has won a major position on the international market. A quarter of all fish is landed by the national fleet. The remaining three-quarters are imports. Eighty per cent of all fish is sold abroad which makes the Netherlands one of Europe's few net exporters, countries whose fish exports exceed their imports. Imports are currently some 1.3 billion euro, whereas exports generate over 2 billion euro, going mostly to European countries.

Fleet
Location, energy and a rich maritime history created a fishing fleet of which the Dutch are proud; versatile and modern. In its present form, the Dutch fleet can roughly be divided into two parts: the cutter fleet and the trawler fleet. The cutter fleet consists of 400 cutter vessels, mostly beam cutters, which mainly fish for flatfish such as plaice and sole. There are also smaller euro-cutters and specialized shrimp cutters. Trawlers mostly fish for herring, mackerel, horse mackerel and sardinella, catches being processed immediately and frozen on board. And there is the modern mussel fleet, consisting of some 60 vessels with sophisticated equipment for farming and harvesting mussels.

Fish Auction
The fish auction is the essential trade step between fish landings and the trade. The Netherlands has eleven fish auctions where fresh fish is traded weekly and a number of smaller auctions located around the IJsselmeer where fresh water fish are traded. The auction provides space to unload and sort the fish and temporarily store it. Auction field staff assess the quality of every batch arriving. Each auction has a hall, known locally as the 'mijnzaal', where the actual auction takes place. Dutch fish auctions are equipped with modern equipment and meet all requirements with regard to temperature control, hygiene and efficient fish handling.

Processing Industry
Fish is often filleted, breaded, conserved or processed in one or another way before it is offered to the consumer. The Netherlands has approximately 400 companies involved in such processing and further trading. The processing of flat fish, crustaceans and shellfish accounts for the major part of turnover. The processing of herring and other pelagic species account for 15 per cent of turnover of the processing industry.

Fish trade
In the branche of fish processing sector there is a large variety of businesses. All in all, they add up to approximately 450 firms. The fish industry is concentrated mainly in the areas of Urk, IJmuiden and Yerseke (where shellfish are traded), but also in Spakenburg, where many wholesalers are based.

Import
Holland is a major transit country for fish and is one of the few countries in the European Union that is a net exporter of fish. In Europe there is a great demand for raw material for the industry as well as for fish products for the consumer. It exceeds the European supplies and, as a consequence, over 50 per cent of the EU demand for fish is met by imports from third world countries by now.

Retail
In Holland the share of fish sales through the specialised fish shops is still satisfactory compared to European standards. The specialised shops constitute about 1800 outlets, half of which are mobile (for instance on markets). Even so, many people think the number of outlets is too small, putting a restraint on the consumption. The super markets have obviously thought the same, and over recent years we have seen an increase of their market share. Whereas the specialised shop sells its wet fish unpacked and on ice, some super markets are experimenting with pre-packed fish. This is a form of conditioned packaging, supplied straight from the processor to the super market.

FISH SPECIES IMPORTED & EXPORTED IN THE NETHERLANDS
Alaska pollack
Anchovy
Arctic char
Barracuda
Barramundi
Bass
Black oreo dory
Blue Mussel
Blue whiting
Bonito
Bonito (little tuny)
Bream
Brill
Brown trout
Butterfish
Capelin
Carp
Carpet shell
Catfish
Caviar
Clam
Cockle
Cod
Cod roe
Crab
Crab sticks
Crayfish
Cuttlefish
Dab
Dogfish
Eel
Emperor
Escolar
Fish fingers
Fish snacks
Flounder
Freshwater catfish
Grey mullet
Grouper
Gurnard
Haddock
Hake
Halibut
Herring
Herring roe
Hoki
Horse mackerel
John dory
King crab
Kingfish
Kingklip
Klippfish
Lemon sole
Ling
Lobster
Mackerel
Mahi mahi
Marlin
Matje herring
Milkfish
Monkfish
Nile perch
Norway lobster
Octopus
Oyster
Pangasius
Perch
Periwinkle
Pike
Pike perch
Plaice
Pollack
Prawn
Rainbow trout
Ray, Skate
Razor clam
Red mullet
Red mullet (striped mullet)
Redfish
Roach
Sailfish
Saithe
Salmon
Salmon trout
Salted fish
Sardine
Sardinella
Sashimi
Scallop
Schillerlocken
Seabream
Seafood cocktail
Seatrout
Shrimp (brown shrimp)
Silver smelt
Smelt
Snapper
Snow crab
Sole
Spanish mackerel
Spiny lobster (crawfish)
Spisula
Sprat
Squid
Stockfish
Sturgeon
Surimi
Sushi
Swordfish
Tench
Tilapia
Trevally
Trout
Trout roe
Tuna
Turbot
Venus (clam)
Whelk
Whitebait
Whitefish
Whiting

Federation of European Aquaculture Producers - The Federation of European Aquaculture Producers (FEAP) is an international organisation that is composed of the National Aquaculture Associations of European countries. The basic aims of the Federation are: * to develop and establish a common policy on questions relating to the production and the commercialisation of aquaculture species are reared professionally. * to make known to the appropriate authorities the common policies envisaged above.
 

Dutch Fish Product Board
The Dutch fishing industry is well-organized. Fishermen, fish and shellfish farmers, fish processors, whole-salers and retailers, they all have their own interest organization. But in addition to that, they are united too, into the Dutch Fish Product Board.

Quota system and co-management
In order to avoid one country stealing all fish away from others and overexploitation of the North Sea, the European ministers yearly establish the quota of the amounts of fish to be caught. Biologists investigate the volumes of the various fish stocks. They give advice to the members of the European Committee, who in its turn, gives advice to the European Board of Ministers. Moreover, the representatives of the fishery branch can make their wishes clear to the national government. They indicate the amount of quoted fish the national fleet requires to fish all year round in order to have an economically sound branch. In the final decision phase at the Board of Ministers, the advices of the biologists and the economic arguments of the branch are taken into account. In the Netherlands the sector has developed a unique system for quota control, the so-called "Biesheuvel-groepen". It is a system based on co-management and social control. Groups of fishermen make arrangements among themselves to divide the fish quota. This system has proven to be very effective, the Dutch fishing sector has not over-fished quota in years!

Composition of the fleet and fishing methods
The Dutch fleet consists of approximately 400 cutters, sixteen large freezer trawlers and a number of shrimp cutters. Furthermore, there are approximately 80 IJsselmeer cutters and over 100 cutters fishing for shellfish (mussels, cockles and oysters).

Beam trawl
The first group of 400 cutters comprises a large number of powerfully propelled and modernly equipped beam trawl cutters, fishing for plaice and sole. They have a length of 40 to 45 metres, are fully seaworthy and make trips of four to five days. The beam trawl fishery uses two sets of gear that are dredged along the sea-bed in order to catch species such as plaice, sole, dab, turbot, brill and lemon sole. The tickler chains that scrape the bottom scare the fish out of the sand and into the net. The beam trawlers are equipped with two special booms to tow both sets of gear. They have a boom on either side in order to keep the gear parallel and at a sufficient distance from the cutter to prevent the nets getting entangled in the propeller and to maintain stability.

More than half of the flatfish landed by the beam trawlers is destined to be exported. Large filleting plants, based mostly in Urk and IJmuiden, buy the plaice and sole. Fresh or deep-frozen fillets of these fish find their way to consumers in Italy, Switzerland, France, America and many other countries.

Round fishery
Only a limited number of cutters are fully equipped for the fishing for cod, whiting and haddock. For convenience sake they are called round fish cutters. These boats are usually older than the modern beam trawl cutters. Their length varies from 27 to 34 metres and the capacity of their machinery varies from 500 to 1,200 hp. Their trips take two to four days.

Round fish is caught in various ways. In Holland the pair trawlers are used most. Two boats work one very large net that floats just above the sea-bed. Unlike most flatfish, round fish do not burrow in the sand, but swim at 0.5 to 4 metres above the bottom. The smaller version of a pair net is the trawl net, which can be towed by one vessel. In both cases the catch consists of cod, whiting and haddock.

Another method for catching cod and other round fish is a set net. Danish fishermen in particular are specialised in this technique. Only a couple fishermen from IJmuiden, Wieringen and Volendam used to fish in this way. They cast their nets around a wreck and wait about 24 hours to see if any fish has swam into the nets. This is a passive method of fishing, requiring little fuel because the ship does not have to tow a net. Moreover, the fishermen catch relatively large fish with set nets.

Shrimp fishery
Among the 400 cutters there are also boats that alternately fish for flatfish, shrimp and cod (round fish). Although these boats are usually smaller, they are very modern vessels of up to 25 metres, the so-called Euro cutters. In autumn they fish for shrimp and during the summer they fish for sole and plaice.

Shrimp fishery is much practised in Holland. Shrimps can be found along the entire coast, sometimes even at a few metres from the beach. The shrimp fishing fleet is therefore characterised by small vessels with a very limited draught. The estuaries in Zeeland and the Waddensea are attractive places for the shrimp.

As the shrimps are caught, they are immediately cooked aboard ship. After having been cooked, the crew cleans the shrimps from any impurities and the shrimps are stocked in refrigerated fish holds. At the auction, the shrimps are first transported over a sieve to sift the undersized shrimps. Then the sale in the auction room can commence. The traders send the shrimps to selling shops in Holland or abroad. In Holland the handshelling of shrimps has become too costly. In other countries, Morocco and Poland in particular, the Dutch wholesalers of shrimps have built ultramodern shelling shops, where the shrimps are shelled by hand. After the shrimps are shelled and returned to Holland, the fish retailer can buy his supplies of shrimps from the wholesalers.

Pelagic trawl fishery
The largest fishing vessels of the fleet belong to the category of freezer trawlers. These ships have a length of over 88 metres and the catches are deep frozen aboard ship immediately after sorting. The sixteen freezer trawlers make trips of three and sometimes even five weeks, depending on the kind of fish they want to catch and the location of the fish. The freezer trawlers have a global range. The major species of fish they catch are mackerel, horse mackerel, herring, blue whiting and silver smelt. The successfulness of this category of ships is largely due to the efficient methods of processing. As soon as the catch is hauled in, the fish are sorted below decks and given a preliminary refrigeration treatment. After having been sorted, the fish is transported over a conveyor belt to special trenches where the fish is deep-frozen. As soon as the temperature has sunk to –20° Celsius, the blocks of fish are ready to be packed in carton boxed. In the freeze hold, the temperature is –25° Celsius and this is where the fish is stocked during the trip. When the ships arrive in harbour at Vlissingen, Scheveningen, IJmuiden or Las Palmas, the deep frozen packs are directly transferred to freezer cells. From these freezer cells, owned by the shipping companies, the fish is exported mainly to Japan, Cuba, Egypt, Nigeria and East-European countries.

IJsselmeer fishery
The eighty or so cutters that fish the IJsselmeer are equipped with hoop nets to fish for eel. They all originate form places around the IJsselmeer. In the early spring the IJsselmeer fishermen fish with hoop nets for smelt. Boxes and long lines are also used for catching eel. The IJsselmeer cutters have a length varying between 10 to 20 metres and usually make day trips. The vessels are also equipped to fish with drift nets, with which they catch perch and pike-perch.

Mussels
The hatcheries for mussels are in the Waddensea and the Oosterschelde. The Waddensea has the highest yearly yield of mussels. The mussel farmers have modern mussel cutters that are hardly smaller than the large beam trawl cutters. However, the mussel cutters have a very limited draught: a large beam trawl cutter may draw over five metre, but a mussel cutter requires a mere 90 centimetres in order to keep floating. After all, the Waddensea and the Oosterschelde are both very shallow. Twice a year, in spring and in autumn, the mussel farmer collects the all important mussel seed from wild stocks. After he has caught enough, he sows the mussel seed on the banks where he thinks the mussels have the best conditions to mature. Each farmer has his own banks, which he leases from the government. After two years the mussels are mature and fit for consumption. The farmer will then harvest the crop from his banks, after which the mussels are traded at the mussel auction in Yerseke. After having been sold to the traders, the mussels are transported to purification banks in the Oosterschelde. Here the mussels can repose and purify themselves internally from any sand or mud. After a certain period of purification the mussels are sold.

Cockles
During the autumn cockle vessels fish in the estuaries in Zeeland and on tidal flats in the Waddensea, Westerschelde and Oosterschelde. Like the mussel cutters, the cockle vessels have a very limited draught. Cockles are exported in large quantities to Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom. In Holland the cockle is not much eaten.

Oysters
Oyster farmers, who mostly operate in the waters of Zeeland, use old mussel vessels. Most of these boats are over 30 years old. The oysters traded in Holland are the flat farmed oyster and the Japanese oyster (creuse). Oosterschelde and Grevelingen are good locations to farm oysters. Oysters are very easy to farm commercially, because they do not burrow into the ground.

EU Coastal Guide - An information service of the EUCC aimed at professionals in coastal management, planning, conservation and research in Europe. Our mission: Provide help in finding and accessing the best available information.

Wageningen IMARES – the Institute for Marine Resources and Ecosystem Studies – specializes in strategic and applied marine ecological research. The institute was established in mid 2006, the result of a cooperation between RIVO (the Netherlands Institute for Fisheries Research), elements of Alterra and the Department of Ecological Risks within the TNO. Products and services include field studies, real-life scale experiments, exploratory studies at the laboratory level, data management and modelling. The institute has modern research facilities at its disposal, is ISO certified and accredited for chemical and ecotoxicological research. Clients include the government and national and international businesses.