Blue Transition

Large-scale demonstration project

Low impact fishery in the Skagerrak Sea

Ocean in Balance is a Danish social enterprise focused on Sustainable Coastal Fishing.

In collaboration with young fishermen in Northern Denmark, Ocean in Balance is preparing a large demonstration project, Blue Transition, with the aim of showing how to develop and expand an eco-friendly, low impact fishery in the Skagerrak Sea between Denmark and Norway.

The project has accomplished its first two steps of preparation with success:

A group of fishermen have established a cooperative community quota company, by means of which the families of the Thorupstrand fishing community have bought up fishing quotas in common. Through the Thorupstrand Guild of Coastal Fishermen the families of Thorupstrand are securing the low impact fishery’s possession of a growing part of the marine ecosystem in Skagerrak. The local Emborg Family Foundation (located in Aalborg, Northern Jutland) together with the VELUX FOUNDATIONS (Copenhagen) are supporting the financing of the Guild’s investment in quotas.
The local association-owned research and development Centre for Sustainable Lifemodes and boat-building yard Han Herred Sea-boats (Han Herred Havbåde) have developed a prototype of a new fishing vessel for sustainable and low impact fishery in Skagerrak. The P. Møller Foundation (Copenhagen) and Realdania (Copenhagen) have supported the work of developing the prototype. The yard has just launched the first exemplar of the new boat type. The VELUX FOUNDATIONS and The Obel Family Foundation (Aalborg, Northern Jutland) have supported the construction project of the first boat.

The next step is to up-scale the experiences into a large demonstration project. The aim of this project is to demonstrate how to build a new and growing fleet of low impact and eco-friendly fishing sea-boats, with which a new generation of young fishing families will be able to expand a sustainable use of the ecosystem of the Skagerrak Sea.

With the aim of making it possible for young fishing families to invest in the new sea-boats, Ocean in Balance will invest in the construction of a series of sea-boats of the new prototype and lease these boats to the young fishing families. The leasing fee will be a percentage of the gross income, so the financing of the boats can adapt to the marine area’s own conditions, i.e. to the varying yield of the wild ecosystem. After a leasing period of 15 years, the fishermen, who are leasing a boat, can buy the boat at a price that represents the rest of the construction price of each boat. When the investment is paid back to Ocean in Balance, the capital will be invested in the construction of yet another new sea-boat for young fishermen. It is possible to construct one sea-boat each year, and so the fleet will get a constant growth following the recruitment of young fishing families.

Each new sea-boat costs one million euro. Ocean in Balance needs a capital foundation of 10 million euros to realize the demonstration project.

Ocean in Balance is now searching for non-profit economic support to realize the project Blue Transition in the Skagerrak Sea.