Fisheries in Oostende

Overview and Background

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The Belgian coast is 67 km long and is entirely bordering the province of West-Flanders (region of Flanders, Belgium). The Belgian part of the North Sea is 3,457 km² (0.5% of the North Sea area), of which more than 1/3 or 1,430 km² are territorial sea within 12 nautical miles distance of the coastline. Belgium currently has 10 coastal municipalities and 4 coastal ports (Nieuwpoort, Oostende, Zeebrugge and Blankenberge), and besides the fish auctions located in Oostende, Zeebrugge and Nieuwpoort where fish is sold according to legal procedures, there are no other dispersed landing points. Although historically the port and auction of Oostende was by far the most important, today the auctions of Zeebrugge (53%) and Oostende (45%) receive the largest share of the landings of Belgian fisheries in Belgian ports.

Belgium has a minor role in the European fisheries context with 0.35% of the total EU production of fish. In 2012, the Belgian commercial sea fishing fleet counted 86 ships, with a total engine capacity of 49,135 kW and gross tonnage of 15,326 GT . 45 vessels are part of the Small Fleet Segment (max 221 kW engine power) of which 2 use passive gear. The remaining 41 vessels belong to the Large Fleet Segment and have an engine power between 221 kW and a maximum of 1,200 kW. This fleet segment represents approximately 80% of the engine power capacity and 77% of the GT of the fleet. While a smaller number use trammel nets (passive gear) and otter trawl, the largest share of the Large Fleet Segment are beam trawl vessels (≥662 kW). The Belgian fleet is highly specialized: more than 68% of the effort(days at sea) and 77% of total landings are achieved by beam trawlers(2010)focusing primarily on flatfish species such as plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) and sole (Solea solea). The results of the reconstruction of the Belgian fleet dynamics since 1830 are presented in Lescrauwaet et al. 2013.

The number of days at sea per vessel is fixed at a maximum of 265 per year and in 2011 the entire fleet realized a fishing effort of 15,855 days at sea. In 2011, the Belgian fleet landed a total of 20,138t, of which 16,905t were landed in Belgian ports. Plaice is the most important species in terms of landed weight. The landings of 2011 represented a value of €76.3 million, 14% of which was marketed in foreign ports. Sole generates 47% of the current total value of fisheries in Belgium. The Belgian sea fisheries represent 0.04% of the national Gross Domestic Product . The main fishing grounds in terms of volume of landings in 2010 were in descending order: North Sea South (IVc), Eastern English Channel (VIId), North Sea Central (IVb), Southeast Ireland/Celtic Sea (VIIg) Bristol Channel (VIIf) and Irish Sea (VIIa).

In terms of direct employment, 439 fishers are registered of which approximately 350 are of Belgian nationality. Direct employment in fisheries represent approximately 0.5% of the total employment in the Belgian coastal zone. Another 1040 persons work in the fish processing industry and another 5000 persons in associated trade and services . A historical overview of Belgian sea fisheries is available from and .

The Belgian sea fishery sector is rather small compared to that of neighbouring countries in the North Sea and has been gradually losing importance since the Second World War. It is also gradually losing importance relative to the booming tourism industry in the Belgian coastal zone. However fisheries can be an added value to the tourism experience at the coast by developing fisheries-related tourism activities .

Port description

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Oostende (Geographical coordinates: 51°2’ N, 2°9’ E) is the largest town of the Belgian coast and has a population of 70 000 people. The port of Oostende can accommodate all types of coastal maritime traffic. The construction of the harbor in 1445 was of great importance for further growth of the city of Oostende (Allaert G., 2013). Click here for a plan of the harbor of Oostende.

The port is partly owned by the state and partly by the City of Oostende. AG Port Oostende is an autonomous city company established in 1996 by the city council of Oostende. It became operational on 1 March 1997. Before, the port of Oostende was property of the city of Oostende, the RMT (Regie voor Maritiem Transport, the Belgian state-owned ferry service) and the Flemish Region.

The port consists of a tidal basin and a dock port which is closed by locks. The Fishing Port is located at the East side of the ship channel and consists mainly of an access channel, a lock, a fishing dock with shipyards, a tidal dock with a ship cleaning bank (“kuisbank”) for small vessels, two slipways and the fish auction, formerly also the presence of a railway and shipping station. The quay wall-length within the fishing port of Oostende is 1,425 meters long. The port can take up to four vessels in the dock at the same time and can handle ships up to 1,750 tonnes.

The first fish auction of Oostende was established in 1879. The present fish auction dates from 1951. Since 2009 the fish auction of Oostende and Zeebrugge joined to form the “Flemish Fish Auction”. The European food center is the logistics platform of the Flemish Fish Auction and consists out of two clusters of fishing companies with the two auctions (Oostende and Zeebrugge) as its engine. The two clusters contain about 130 companies and employs about 800 people in the fishing business. The supply of fish are sold in real-time over the internet and on a network which connects 3 clocks namely in Zeebrugge, Oostende and Nieuwpoort.

In Oostende, all fish landings need to be auctioned in the fish auction of Ostend. Special permit can be given to inshore fishing vessels (with an engine power of 221kW or less and a tonnage of no more than 70 GT, that make trips with a maximum period of 24 hours) to directly sell their fish at the fish market on the Montgomery quay in Oostende. Only vessels that have this permit may land their fish at the Montgomery quay. Fishermen can sell part of their fish (as a whole) directly at a fish market, the “Vistrap”. The fish market in Oostende is unique in Belgium. The infrastructure allow ship-owners and fishermen to sell their catches directly. The fish is not auctioned and therefore gives better prices to the ship-owners .

Inshore fishing vessels (with an engine power of 221 kW or less and a tonnage of no more than 70 GT, that make trips of maximum 24 hours) can receive a permit to sell their fish at the fish market on the Montgomerydok. Only vessels that possess a permit are allowed to land fish at the Montogmerydok. Fishermen can sell their caught fish at the fish market only if they completed in a "voorafname" document from the board. The city, national, regional and EEG regulations remain applicable.

Fig.1. The “vistrap” in Oostende. (VLIZ photo gallery, 2012)

Fishing Fleet

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In 2013 a total of 24 fishing vessels were registered in Oostende from which 10 fishing vessel are defined as an inshore fishing vessels (indicated in blue in the table below): the O.2 NANCY, O.20 NYX, O.62 DINI, O.71 JACOB KIEN, O.82 NAUTILUS, O.101 FISTON, O.116 CAROLINE, O.152 ARAN, O.190 RENILDE and the 0.191 MATIMO. The Belgian definition of inshore fisheries ('kustvisserij') refers to vessels with an engine power of 221 kW or less (this includes any additional installed power) and a tonnage of no more than 70 GT, that make trips with a maximum period determined by the Minister (today being 48 hours) with start and end in a Belgian port. Moreover, vessels with engine power >221 kW are not allowed to fish within the 12nm which is reserved for the inshore fisheries or Small Fleet Segment (Ministerial Decree of December 16, 2005).

Port letters and number	Vessel name	L.O.A. in m	Gros Tonnage	Year built	Engine power (kW)
O.2	NANCY	21.39	53	1964	213
O.13	MORGENSTER	23.94	94	1989	218
O.14	DE ZEEMEEUW	29	210	1973	515
O.15	ZILVERMEEUW	34.8	236	1975	883
O.20	NYX	19	37	1963	216
O.29	BROODWINNER	27.2	100	1967	221
O.33	MARBI	34.8	254	1976	705
O.51	STORMVOGEL	30.58	217	1982	722
O.62	DINI	21.97	44	1963	221
O.71	JACOB KIEN	23.77	70	1985	221
O.82	NAUTILUS	18.14	55	1997	221
O.89	SANDRA	33.53	233	1982	850
O.101	FISTON	16.8	33	1967	184
O.116	CAROLINE	17	33	1961	142
O.152	ARAN	17	42	1968	176
O.154	WILMAR	25.94	207	1988	518
O.156	MARRETJE-AALTJE	19.98	199	2004	447
O.187	GRIETJE-HENDRIKA	23.99	109	1989	221
O.190	RENILDE	22.32	68	1970	221
O.191	MATIMO	21.2	54	1963	221
O.229	LIBERTY	23.93	126	1991	218
O.231	DEN HOOPE	37.83	389	2001	882
O.316	AEGIR	32.32	336	1987	551
O.554	GODELIEVE	21.53	133	2000	302

Tabel 1: Fishing vessels of Oostende. Inshore fishing vessels are indicated in blue.(Officiële lijst van de Belgische vissersvaartuigen (Toestand op 31 december 2013))

Landings

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Landings and values are available from the HiFi database from 1929 until 1999. The data from 2000-2012 that is added to the data from the HiFi database comes from the publication of Tessens and Velghe (2013), the landings and values of the Belgian sea fisheries in 2012.

Fish shops and restaurants

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Next to the fish market (see: Port description), there are also several fish shops located in Oostende (click here for an overview).

The presence of a fish auction in Oostende attracts fish processing industries. Some examples of fish processing industries are given below.

• Simons & Decru is one of the oldest fish processing companies from Belgium, the company was established in 1894. After WOII, the company is located near the fish auction of Oostende. Fish come in from the auction and is cleaned and filleted by professional filters. After fish processing, the fish is packed and transported to clients.

• Morubel founded in 1954 is part of the Heiploeg group located in Oostende. Morubel is specialized in frozen products.

• Neptunus is a company located near the fish auction of Oostende that is specialized in wholesale fish from European ports, even fish from Iceland.

Several restaurants in Oostende joined the a l’Ostendaise initiative (see: Fisheries related activities). The restaurants all serves a monthly menu with fish caught by local fishermen.

A l'Ostendaise restaurant	Website
Bottarga	www.bottarga.be
1989	218

Quality labels

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The Flemish brown shrimp is a typical fisheries product in Belgium. In 2006 the Purus label was introduced by a cooperation of ship owners, the cooperative Flemish fisheries organization (Cooperative Vlaamse Visserij Vereniging CVBA) to promote the Flemish unpeeled brown shrimps. The brown shrimps are caught by Belgian fishermen, the fishermen fish no longer than 24 hours and the shrimps are cooked in old Flemish manner (in sea water with salt), there are no additives, preservatives added. This all results in high quality taste. The Purus label also promotes sustainable fishing techniques.

Since 2011, the Flemish Shellfish- and fish cooperation (VSVC) supply, via an exclusive quality label, ‘North Sea Life’, life brown shrimps and swimming crabs to restaurants and wholesalers. Life shrimps allows chefs to determine how they will prepare the shrimps. Life product forms the base of creative and gastronomic possibilities. The same is true for life swimming crabs. In 2013 a minimum of 200 kilo life brown shrimps were landed each day. Prices for life shrimps are on average 30 percent higher than shrimps cooked on board of the shrimp vessel.

Organisations

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In Belgium, the FLAG, also called the ‘local group’, ‘Plaatselijke Groep Belgisch Zeevisserijgebied’, is a partnership between socio-economic stakeholders in the fisheries sector, NGOs and public authorities that play a crucial role in the implementation of the proposed development strategy. The lead partner of the Belgian FLAG is the Province of West Flanders. The main focus of the FLAG strategy is to add value to local fisheries products and increase local consumption. Belgian landings represent only 10% of fisheries products consumed in Belgium, leaving the remaining 90% to be met by imports. Therefore there is a considerable potential for discovering and developing local markets. It will also support diversification, innovation, the involvement of women and efforts to promote the sustainable management of the marine environment.

Fig.4. Belgian FLAG area: West Flanders

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References

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