Dusseldorf Ted Sönnichsen would normally not have time for an interview now. At the end of March he has always been on the high seas for a long time in the past 32 years. Now he misses the sea air, the view over the dark blue sea and life on the ship. Sönnichsen is a shrimp fisherman. Since his youth he has lived on a cutter in the North Sea for almost nine months a year.
But because fuel prices are currently three times higher than usual, fishing is no longer worthwhile. For Sönnichsen and his colleagues, the situation is highly dramatic, the last reserves have been used up. “We’re talking about days here,” says the 48-year-old. Then the fisheries are threatened with bankruptcy.
The North Sea shrimp fishermen are in a deep crisis. Some of Sönnichsen’s colleagues have already filed for bankruptcy. While the price for a liter of marine diesel was between 50 and 60 cents last year, fishermen now have to pay 1.50 euros.
“No one can go out for the price,” says Dirk Sander, former managing director of the producer association of German shrimp fishermen. “If another one drives, then only until the tank runs empty,” adds Sander, whose producer group represents around 100 farms between Sylt in Schleswig-Holstein and Ditzum in East Frisia. While the cost of fuel accounted for up to 20 percent of a farm’s sales in normal years, it’s now 50 to 60 percent, Sander said.
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The shrimp fishermen of the second large producer group, coastal fishermen in the North Sea, are also largely at a standstill. “The situation is catastrophic,” says Managing Director Günter Klever. On the Schleswig-Holstein coast, three companies are already facing bankruptcy.
The fisherman gets seven euros for a kilo of crabs
The shrimp fishing industry has long been considered particularly attractive to seafarers. Around 200 fishermen turned over around 30 million euros with their catches last year. Customers pay around 60 euros for a kilogram of peeled shrimps in the supermarket. But the fishermen only collect a fraction of the money. The price is currently around seven euros. “That’s actually quite neat,” reports Sander. In view of the high fuel prices, this amount is nowhere near enough to break even.
That’s why Ted Sönnichsen hasn’t even set sail with his “Jule Marie” this year. He bought the ship 13 years ago – like most other self-employed fishermen, used it. “It’s difficult for small family businesses to get a loan for movable goods like a ship,” says Sönnichsen. This is another reason why the German shrimp fishing fleet is ailing compared to other countries.
Ted Sönnichsen’s boat is currently not sailing.
(Photo: Ted Sönnichsen)
Almost all shrimp fishermen are lone fighters and own one or at most two ships. Although most of them have joined together in producer groups, they cannot compete with the highly efficient cutters from the Netherlands or Denmark.
“They all have new buildings, just not us,” complains Sönnichsen. The large Dutch companies can also go out in the spring with their cutters up to 24 meters long, while the German shrimp fishermen have to stay on land in January and February. “In Denmark and the Netherlands, it is easier for fishermen to invest in new vehicles due to the political framework,” explains Döring, economist at the Thünen Institute for Sea Fisheries in Bremerhaven.
Another problem is the monopoly position of two Dutch companies, which also market the shrimp caught in German waters. The companies “Heiploeg” and “Klaas Puul” handle more than 85 percent of the North Sea shrimp trade. Together, the two groups make almost half a billion euros in sales.
The shrimp roll across Europe for peeling
The Dutch collect the crabs and send them on trucks to Africa. Several times a week, for example, a truck from “Klaas Puul” drives across Europe to Morocco for the Pulen. It’s worth it, because labor costs are much cheaper in North Africa than in Germany.
However, that could change in the near future. A shrimp peeling machine is intended to revitalize the German value chain in the industry. The inventor Christin Klever from the East Frisian town of Großheide has developed a method in which shock waves are intended to break open the crab’s chitin shell without damaging the coveted crab meat. The shell could also be used, which usually rots after the previous method. Chitin is a substance that is in demand in medicine and the cosmetics industry, says Klever.
Lower Saxony’s Minister of Fisheries, Barbara Otte-Kinast, issued a funding decision of 2.3 million euros for funding the project at the weekend. Economists and shrimp fishermen have high hopes for the project. “This machine could be the game changer,” says economist Döring. In two to three years they want to test the first prototype of the machine.
That’s time the shrimp fishermen don’t have in the current situation. “We have high hopes for this machine. But as it stands now, we don’t need it anymore because there might be no more shrimp fishermen when it’s done,” says Sander. What counts now is quick help from politicians.
EU has promised help for family businesses
This should now come primarily from the EU. The European Commission has already pledged to support fishing and aquaculture companies with up to €35,000 per business. Currently, however, the payment is still blocked by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection. “The payment modalities are still being examined,” said Handelsblatt when asked.
In addition, the EU wants to use funds from the marine, fisheries and aquaculture funds to support fisheries. Eight European countries – including Germany – have already presented programs on how the money should be used. The EU has not yet approved any of the programs.
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“Nevertheless, ways are being sought to provide help to the fisheries even before this program is approved,” says a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. When asked by the Handelsblatt, the spokeswoman left open what this help would look like in concrete terms.
After two years of the pandemic and a drop in prices in the meantime, fishermen like Sönnichsen live off the substance. “The last few years have not been easy, but the fuel prices are now the last straw that breaks the camel’s back,” says the father of two. He is the fifth generation to run the small family business with one employee. His will be the last, he already knows that. Sönnichsen reports that his son is ready to continue the business. But he had to talk him out of it with a heavy heart.
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