Revisions to Greenland’s fisheries law were approved on 16 May and became law on 19 May, bringing changes to how Greenland’s seafood sector must operate moving forward.
The law, which has a 10-year-transition period, will require all companies conducting commercial fishing to be based in Greenland and create flexible individual species quotas that can fished or traded, according to Sermitsiaq. It will also institute minimum prices to be paid for fish and expand coastal fishing rights from 3 miles to 12 miles out to sea.
First introduced in November 2023, the bill has been hotly debated for months. Seafood accounts for 90 percent of Greenland’s exports by value and 30 percent by volume, and fishing is a vital commercial lifeline for many of Greenland’s isolated communities.
The law has been criticized by Royal Greenland and Polar Seafood Greenland – Greenland’s two largest seafood companies. No changes to Royal Greenland's shrimp quotas are included in the law, Royal Greenland Communications Head Merete Lindstrøm said, without making mention of its halibut quotas.
"Royal Greenland welcomes the clarity provided by the new fisheries law," Lindstrøm told SeafoodSource. "As a company owned by the Greenlandic people, we operate within the framework set by our owners. This new legislation offers clear conditions, allowing us to continue our work with confidence and stability. We are committed to working for the benefit of the Greenlandic people and our fishermen, ensuring sustainable and responsible fishing practices."
However, Polar Seafood said it will likely be forced to sell off one-third of its halibut and shrimp quotas, as private companies will be limited to hold 20 percent of the quota for each species and public companies will be allowed to hold up to 33 percent of a quota of any given species.
The effect of the law on the largest private company in Greenland – Polar Seafood – which contributes around DKK 440 million [USD 64 million, EUR 59 million] in tax revenues, resource interest, and dividend tax annually – is catastrophic,” Polar Seafood Greenland Chair Michael Binzer said. “This is a bit like when you buy a house, where a 30-year lock-in period has been agreed on the mortgage loan, you are notified by the mortgage bank that there is now only a 10-year term on your loan, and the contribution rate has otherwise increased by a large percentage.”
Binzer criticized exemptions in the law for Royal Greenland.
“The publicly owned Royal Greenland is exempted because they perform socially imposed tasks, despite the fact that we in Polar Seafood demonstrably have better financial key figures. But, this happens without us being able to gain insight into exactly what these tasks are and what it costs – in other words: direct political interference in a company's tasks without transparency. Or, you can choose to describe it as social policy wrapped in business policy but without public interference,” Binzer said in a LinkedIn post. “It challenges my perception of what a modern society based on the rule of law should stand for. I am struck by my sense of injustice – and a feeling that private capital must not be too successful in Greenland.”
Polar Seafood Greenland said approval of the new fisheries law will result in it having to close its shrimp factory in Aasiaat, Greenland, which employs around 100 workers.
Greenland Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede, a supporter of the reforms, praised the law’s passage and said the government will make an effort to keep the Aasiaat plant open.
“Many different views were presented during the debate. Thank you for the many views [from] many who have supported and those who have been against the law,” he said on Facebook. “We shall immediately begin the work on implementing the law as well as carrying out the tasks imposed by [Greenland’s parliament], such as preserving fishermen’s livelihoods … and we shall immediately begin work on ensuring Aasiaat’s factory remains open. I have high expectations to keep the factory in Aasiaat, as there are people who want to maintain the supply of raw materials and who want to help develop solutions.”
Despite accusations that Royal Greenland is being treated in a favorable manner compared to Polar Seafood Greenland, on 17 May, Egede lambasted the management team of Royal Greenland at the company’s annual meeting.
“It cannot be right that a company owned by the Greenlandic people, which has to carry out a specific task in this country, also invests outside the country with losses of millions, which have no direct relevance to its core products, as for example in Chile,” Egede said. Royal Greenland lost its ability to ship products from Chile to China in 2023, resulting in a loss of DKK 85 million (USD 12.4 million, EUR 11.4 million) as it was forced to reallocate the products to other markets.
Egede criticized Royal Greenland’s financial performance after it posted a DKK 255 million (USD 36.8 million, EUR 34.2 million) pre-tax loss in 2023. The company’s debt rose from DKK 4.5 billion (USD 655 million, EUR 603.1 million) in 2022 to DKK 4.6 billion (USD 669.4 million, EUR 616.5 million) in 2023.
“It has been a challenging year, yes, even a catastrophic year,” Egede said, according to Sermitsiaq. “The enormous debt in the company must be reduced, and future investments must increase the activities in Greenland.”
Egede also expressed his disapproval of bonuses paid to company executives, including DKK 3 million (USD 437,000, EUR 402,000) to CEO Susanne Arfelt Rajamand, bringing her total compensation in 2023 to DKK 8.1 million (USD 1.2 million, EUR 1.1 million). Bruno Olesen, the company’s former sales director, received a DKK 3.4 million (USD 495,000, EUR 456,000) bonus to bring his total compensation to DKK 6.4 million (USD 931,000, EUR 858,000). Royal Greenland CFO Nils Duus Kinnerup received a DKK 242,000 (USD 35,000, EUR 32,000) bonus, and production manager Lars Nielsen got a DKK 245,000 (USD 36,000, EUR 33,000) bonus.
“The people of Greenland have noticed that bonus schemes for the executive board are the subject of extensive debate in society. We want the board to stop these schemes and draw up a new policy for remuneration because we have to listen to the owners,” Egede said.
At the same time, Royal Greenland announced the elimination of 100 positions, including 65 employees who will be laid off, most of whom are in Royal Greenland's sales and marketing offices in Europe. Egede said Royal Greenland must do better for the people of Greenland and is insisting on the company moving its entire operations to Greenland and away from Denmark.
“It must focus on increasing production and fishing at home and invest more in its country of origin, namely here. Secondly, the company must ensure that its head office is brought together here in Greenland. It is no longer possible to have two head offices. The company will be run from here on,” he said. “Other requirements will come later. It concerns quotas and increased production at home. All publicly owned companies were created to serve the Greenlandic society and, thus, contribute to growth in their home country.”
Egede and Greenland Finance Minister Erik Jensen then departed the meeting in the middle of Royal Greenland CEO Susanne Arfelt Rajamand's presentation, according to Sermitsiaq.
During her speech, Arfelt Rajamand reiterated points made to SeafoodSource at the 2024 Seafood Expo Global, laying out a strategy involving a return to the company’s core business.
“We have to recognize that there is no room for large innovative measures,” she at the meeting.
Arfelt Rajamand called the new fisheries law a "well-thought-out bill" that will help maintain and develop Greenland’s seafood industry.
