Shrimp fishing resumes off Rømø despite unexploded mine warnings

Fishermen will once again be allowed to catch shrimp in the waters off Rømø, Mandø and Lister Dyb from Saturday, DR reports. Denmark’s Emergency Management Agency has lifted a ban on fishing with bottom-trawling gear in the area.

The shrimp fishery around Rømø had been suspended since the end of May. The agency and the Defence Command spent the summer assessing whether there were sufficient grounds to maintain the ban.

The ban was introduced after the Danish Society for Nature Conservation drew attention to a 1984 regulation prohibiting fishing in the area because unexploded mines could be lying on the seabed. The regulation had not been enforced for several decades.

The waters will now instead be designated warning zones. Authorities will continue to warn against bottom fishing, but it will not be prohibited. Fishermen will operate at their own risk.

Minister for Civil Protection and Emergency Management Lisbeth Bech-Nielsen of the Socialist People’s Party said the decision was responsible from a safety perspective.

“The ban has now been reviewed, and the assessment is that the danger is no greater than in other places where there are only warnings against this type of fishing,” she said.

Denmark’s Fishermen’s Association welcomed the decision.

“Common sense has prevailed, and we can finally restart the fishery. We are, of course, pleased. We have opposed this madness from the very beginning because it is hugely important for fishing on Rømø and for the local communities that depend on it,” said Svend-Erik Andersen, the association’s chairman.