January 7, 2014

Danish firms consolidate to handle fresh cod landing on Bornholm

Danish firms A. Espersen and O.V. Jorgensen have entered a new joint venture to form a new entity, Bornholm Fisk, to consolidate fresh cod landing sites on the Danish island of Bornholm.

Lower landings in 2013, caused by the decline in prices for cod as well as changes in the environment in the Baltic, have hit the fresh cod business on Bornholm hard.

In 2012, Baltic fishermen landed 10,000 tonnes on Bornholm, but this dived to 4,500-5,000 tonnes in 2013, Espersen chief executive officer Klaus Nielsen said.

From January 1, Bornholm Fisk will run landing sites in Nexo, Tejn and Ronne, with intakes in Hasle, Listed, Arsdale, Bornholm and Svaneke closed. It will work for more focus on improving the quality, which could also allow fishermen a better price in the future, said Nielsen. Bornholm Fisk will also contribute with funds to develop fisheries on the island.

"By joining forces in Bornholm Fisk, we expect that the new company in close cooperation with the fishermen will be able to maintain and develop the fishing industry in Bornholm," said Peter Grave, of O.V. Jorgensen.

Although the venture is partly about preserving the Baltic cod industry on Bornholm, which is where Espersen originated from, "fresh Baltic cod is also a vital part of our portfolio of products", he said. The Baltic cod used by Espersen is not processed in Bornholm, but ferried and then trucked to Poland or Lithuania for processing.

Nielsen said there is not an increase in volumes budgeted for 2014, although he does feel cod prices are likely to firm up in the second half.

The drop in landings experienced by Espersen and O.V. Jorgensen applies to the entire fishery, where around 30,000 tonnes of the 90,000 tonnes quota has been left in the water in 2013, said Nielsen.

The drop in landings is partly because of a change in environmental conditions in the Baltic Sea, where an increase in the cod biomass means there is less feed, which resulted in lesser cod landings than in previous years, at an average of around 500 grams.

The fishery had been overfished in the 1980s and 1990s, but now is Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)-certified.