Mussel fishermen in the Limfjord have asked the Danish government to shut down their own industry and pay them full compensation for quotas and vessels.
According to reporting by DR on September 21, the fishermen have written to Environment Minister Maria Reumert Gjerding with the proposal. They want mussel fishing in the Limfjord stopped in the coming season and the industry phased out entirely.
Svend Søe Bonde, deputy chairman of Centralforeningen for Limfjorden, told DR that the fishermen have reached a point where they cannot continue. He said stock assessments point in the same direction, and that staying in the business would mean bankruptcy.
In return, the fishermen are asking for full compensation for both fishing quotas and boats. That includes financial support to scrap the mussel vessels themselves.
Minister seeking EU support
Gjerding, of the Socialist People’s Party, has already answered Danmarks Fiskeriforening and the mussel fishermen, DR reports. She wrote that her ministry is working on a scrapping-support scheme as early as this year, and that she has been in dialogue with the European Commissioner about the case.
Svend Andersen, chairman of Danmarks Fiskeriforening, said a closure would be a major loss for the fishermen and for the cultural history tied to mussel fishing. As stated by Andersen, regulation of the fishery has become so strict that the industry could now disappear, particularly in the Limfjord area.
Stock at a historic low
Berlingske reported on August 31, 2026 that the 2026-27 season allows a maximum catch of 4,000 tonnes of blue mussels in the Limfjord. The limit was set because the stock is at a historically low level.
Under the same regulation, fishing is prohibited in the Limfjord’s Natura 2000 areas, according to Berlingske. The area has seen repeated regulatory conflicts, including a season in which mussel fishing in the Limfjord was halted over sorting rules.
TV2 Nord reported on September 10, 2026 that the minister had noted that some fishermen want a scrapping scheme so they can leave the industry. She also said that any future fishery may have to involve less bottom-scraping gear.
Bonde told DR that bottom-dragging fishing is no longer wanted, and that the decision could just as well be taken now. He added that nature most likely needs it, making this the right moment to stop for both the fishermen and the fjord.
The letter was addressed to the Ministry of Environment, which says it is pursuing several tracks at once, including EU funding aligned with the fishermen’s own proposal. No final decision on compensation or a closure has been announced.
