Svend C is betting on cod outside the cut

One of the trawler companies that is applying to the self-government for quotas for offshore cod in West and East Greenland next year is the family business Sikuaq Trawl A/S, which is owned by the Christensen family.

- We are willing to make a fairly large investment in a new cod line in the factory on the trawler Svend C. We do this because we believe that cod is the future, and we have a tailor-made trawler for this fishery, says director and co-owner Carl Christensen to Sermitsiaq.

The company is applying for quotas for seagoing, i.e. offshore, cod in both East and West Greenland, and is hopeful that the company will be allocated quotas.

Will fish for cod for a large part of the year

The trawler Svend C, which is from 2016, is a combination trawler that fishes for both shrimp and mackerel. However, the quotas for shrimp and mackerel are decreasing.

With quotas of only shrimp and mackerel Svend C will have spare capacity for much of the year. This has forced the company to look at alternatives.

Sikuaq Trawl sees cod as an ideal alternative for the company's combination trawler.

In Sikuaq Trawl, it is emphasized that Svend C has no quota for cod in the Barents Sea or halibut to fish.

This means that Svend C therefore has enough time during the year to fish for cod in both West and East Greenland.

The company believes that if more players do not enter the cod fishery next year, it is highly likely that the situation from this year will be repeated, where quotas are lost because they have not been fished out. This means that the self-government treasury, the Landskassen, will lose cod fees.

Fishing for seagoing cod in West Greenland has been an experimental fishery for some years.

2025 is the first year in recent times that the Greenlandic Government has allocated a seagoing cod quota in West Greenland. Sikuaq Trawl therefore believes that all players in this fishery should be considered new players and that everyone has the same starting point.

Director: - We have a good case

Carl Christensen acknowledges, however, that ultimately the distribution of the seagoing cod quotas is up to the political system, i.e. the Greenlandic government.

- We have great respect for the political process, but we believe that the company has a good case, and if the cod quota is to be fished out in 2026, so that society gets all the income from the cod taxes, more fishing capacity is needed than it is today, and we are ready to provide that, says Carl Christensen from Sikuaq Trawl.

The shipping company had a turnover of 282 million kroner last year and had a profit after tax of almost 40 million kroner.

Shipping companies that want quotas for fishing next year, for example, for cod, must apply for it to the Ministry of Fisheries, Hunting, Agriculture and Self-Sustainability.

It is the Minister of Fisheries, Hunting, Agriculture and Self-Sustainability, Peter Borg, who, after the officials have processed the applications, makes a recommendation to the Minister of Fisheries, Hunting, Agriculture and Self-Sustainability, who distributes the quotas.