Denmark: Small-Scale Fishing in a Market-Based Management System

Abstract

The introduction of a market-based management system of individual, transferable fishing quotas has meant a radical change in Danish fishing, with widespread consequences for the small-scale fleet, fishing practices, strategies, harbours and communities. It has led to a concentration of fishing rights, weakening small-scale fishing and making it hard for new generations of fishers to enter the sector. In this chapter, the authors describe and reflect on the process of privatisation, the consequences, and possible ways forward for small-scale fishing. The chapter also looks at recently introduced fishing policies that strive to address some of the consequences of the privatisation for young fishers and the coastal, small-scale fishing fleet in Denmark.