Fish Dependency: Danish production only meets two-thirds of national demand

16 Aug 2018 --- Denmark officially reached its annual “Fish Dependency Day,” yesterday (August 15), 30 days earlier than in 2017 and six months earlier than in 1990, according to a recently published report from the New Economics Foundation. Fish Dependency Day is the date on which a country begins relying on fish from outside its own waters to meet demand, due to depletion of domestic supplies through a combination of overfishing, mismanagement and domestic demand. According to Our Fish, Denmark is only able to produce fish which meets two-thirds of the national demand.

“Three decades ago, Denmark was producing more fish than it consumed in a year – in 2018, the equivalent of one-third of fish consumed in Denmark has to be imported or caught outside Danish and EU waters to meet national demand,” says Rebecca Hubbard, Program Director of Our Fish.

“Denmark’s reliance on fish from elsewhere is due not simply to demand, but mismanagement of stocks and overfishing. To end the decline of Denmark and EU fish stocks we’re calling on Minister Eva Kjer Hansen to take bold action to end overfishing – by following scientific advice when setting EU fishing limits, and immediately boosting monitoring and enforcement of the ban on discarding fish at sea,” she notes. 

“By ending overfishing, Denmark could more than double its production, return to its former leading role in sustainable fisheries management, and provide enormous benefits for our oceans, fishermen, and coastal communities,” Hubbard explains. 

“Dependence on fish from elsewhere is a big problem for many EU countries, and is a result of the depletion of domestic fish supplies, through a combination of overfishing, poor management and domestic demand. While Denmark can only produce the equivalent of two-thirds of the amount of fish that it uses now, it is important to note that historically it was able to supply more than locally demanded,” she tells FoodIngredientsFirst. 

“Relative to other EU countries, Denmark is in the middle of the fish dependence road. Danish consumption of fish is not high compared to EU and international averages, however, if overfishing was ended in Danish and EU waters, Denmark could halve its dependency on fish from elsewhere. Essentially ending overfishing could provide the equivalent fish for Danes for 301 more days. This is the second largest impact on improving self-sufficiency by ending overfishing, of 16 EU countries reviewed in the report,” states Hubbard.  

“While Denmark has made welcome progress towards the sustainability of the Danish fishing fleet, we should also recognize that to achieve sustainable seafood, not just sustainable fishing, Denmark should also focus on consumption habits and trade patterns,” says Environmental Economist Griffin Carpenter, Senior Researcher at the New Economics Foundation and author of the report. 

“There is a real issue that in some cases we may be exporting environmental problems as we improve them in Europe. Informed purchasing by retailers and consumers, trade deals with a focus on the environment, and improvements to fish stocks around Denmark like Baltic cod all have a role to play in creating a more sustainable Danish seafood system,” he notes. 

Key facts about Denmark, fish dependence and EU overfishing from Fish Dependence Day 2018: The Reliance of the EU on Fish From Elsewhere by the New Economics Foundation:

• Denmark’s fish dependence day this year – on August 15 – comes 30 days earlier than the previous year; this continues a concerning downward trend in self-sufficiency whereby Denmark is increasingly reliant on fish from elsewhere. In 1990, Denmark produced 1.13 times as much fish as was consumed domestically; in 2005 this production had dropped to 0.85 of consumption and according to the latest figures is just 0.62. 
• Denmark could produce more than double what it is currently producing, or enough to cover 301 more days of consumption if overfishing of EU fish stocks ended – Denmark’s Fish Dependence Day could move from August 15 2018 to June 12, 2019.
• Denmark’s fish consumption is just above the global average of 19kg/capita/year and just under the European average of 22.7kg/capita/year: 22.1kg/capita/year. 
• Despite recent progress to rebuild fish stocks in European waters, approximately 40 percent of European Union (EU) stocks remain overfished. This overexploitation means that fish stocks are less productive than if they were allowed to grow in size and harvested at their maximum sustainable yield (MSY). The result is that while the EU produces 11kg of fish per capita annually (2016), this domestic supply falls short of the 23kg of fish consumption per capita in the EU.
• The costs of overfishing in the northeast Atlantic (fish stocks below their Maximum Sustainable Yield levels) have been estimated at 1,150,069 tons of additional fish per year, enough to meet the annual demand of 57 million EU citizens – and would therefore significantly reduce the need to source fish from other countries.