Atuagagdliutit - 30.12.1991, Page 5

NR. 8 1991
AALISAAT/INUIT HUNTERS
5
among the group of obser-
vers only a few represent the
interests of the whalers whi-
le the majority represents
the opposite point of view.
A great responsibility
By Peter Davidsen, Chair-
man of KNAPK as per June
1,1991
In connection with the
change in chairmanship of
KNAPK, the editor of Aali-
saat/Inuit Hunters has re-
ceived the following letter
from Peter Davidsen. The
letter is published here in
full
I feel that I am assuming
a great responsibility. It is
also a challenging responsi-
bility as it concems itself
with the battie for a better
life for the fisherman and
the hunter. It will be ve ry
interesting to continue the
work of my predecessor.
On several occasions I ha-
ve stated, first that working
A stronger organization
for KNAPK demands a
strong sense of responsibili-
ty, and secondly that the
strength of the organization
is very important.
This remains my attitude,
and therefore I have great
expectations regarding the
co-operation between the
Executive Committee, the
Steering Committee, the
Prices Committee, and last
but not least, the staff of
KNAPK whose work I great-
ly respect.
I also want to emphasize
the importance of good con-
tacts to the local branches in
the Coastal towns and settle-
ments, and I sincerely hope
that tbey will supply us with
the necessary information
when we ask them to do so.
One of the most import-
ant tasks will be to ensure
that KNAPK has the neces-
sary fmancial basis making
it possible to act as a strong
organization.
The economy of the indi-
vidual fisherman must be
improved so that an econo-
mic balance is created for
the fishing fleet. It will be
necessary to improve the fi-
nancial position ,of the
fresh-prawn vessels. In
short, it is a question of hard
work if we are to ensure a
better life for our members.
Today we face many pro-
blems brought on by no
fault of our own, problems
we must fight in order to sol-
ve. The m arket for sealskin
has been completely de-
stroyed, and we must fight
the restrictions imposed on
our whaling. It is problems
of this nature which we
must help each other to
fight. There is a great need
for better information con-
cerning these problems.
I also want to mention
that we have already esta-
blished a number of courses
for our members on the
coast. These courses include
accounting, questions of
taxation, organizational
work, and information
about the fishing industry
and hunting.
We are working on this
(asks in the Education and
Information Fund and in
collaboration with our con-
sultants in the Fund. It is
thus a question of many dif-
ferent tasks which we must
try to solve together for the
benefit of all.
With this I send my hope-
ful greetings to all our mem-
bers.
Interview with Peter Davidsen,the new Chairman of KNAPK
We must have a stronger
organization so that the
wishes of our members
may be looked after in a
better way, Peter David-
sen, the new chairman of
KNAPK, says.
-1 have taken up a great
responsibility, and I have
considered what we can do
to make KNAPK a stronger
organization, and what we
may do for our members in
future.
I think we ought to be
stronger in our negotia-
tions. I think that we too of-
ten have given in too easily
when we were negotiating,
and those who have suflered
have been our members who
lose money because of the
low prices resulting from
such negotiations.
But I am glad that we ha-
ve now started to follow
world market prices - esped-
ally for cod, because prices
for cod are rising and this
can be felt by the fishermen.
But prices for prawns are
not very good, at the mo-
ment they are actually fal-
ling. Earlier the price was
DKK 10.20, now it is down
to DKK 6.04.Fortunately we
have agreed with the Lands-
styre on a guaranteed mini-
mum price of DKK 8.75 and
an additional DKK 0.25 in
subsidy. We are not really
satisfied with the subsidy of
DKK 0.25. Earlier it was
DKK 2.00. So we plan to
propose an increase to DKK
1.00 for the fiscal year of
1992. With the prices we get
today it simply doesn’t pay
to fish prawns. And if it con-
tinues in this way, many fis-
hermen fishing prawn will
go bankrupt.
The Organization must
be Strengthened
Our organization does not
receive any fmancial sup-
port from the Home Rule as
we did earlier. The members
pay one per cent to KNAKP,
but as we are losing some of
our members the situation
is deteriorating for the orga-
nization as such. We have
heard that members of the
Association of 79ers (KTB)
are discussing whether to
change their membership
from KNAPK to APK. If
that happens, it will create
very serious financial pro-
blems for our organization.
That is why I have asked
for a meeting with the
Landsstyre as soon as possi-
ble. If KTB really decides to
leave KNAPK, our fmancial
problems will be such that I
hope the Landsstyre will
help us to solve them.
We do not keep all of the
money from the one per cent
our members pay to the or-
ganization. Thirty per cent
of the one per cent we get
are paid to the local bran-
ches of the organization.
Unfortunately it has been
necessary to cut down the
amount to those local bran-
ches which receive more
than DKK 10,000, they only
get 25 per cent. That is very
unfortunate, but it is neces-
sary for the organization.
We also plan to ask the
Landsstyre to introduce a
law making it compulsory
for all who land their cat-
ches to pay one per cent to
KNAPK. I want to stress
that we do not have any fi-
nancial problems at present,
but we shall run into such
problems if our members re-
sign, Peter Davidsen says.
Regulation of
Purchase Conditions
I want to have the rules re-
gulating the purchase of cat-
ches improved, Peter David-
sen says.
Today the rules state that
a 42-litre fish box must con-
tain only 26 kilos. This crea-
tes problems if the contents
exceed 26 kilos as the fisher-
man does not get a penny for
the surplus kilos.
Fortunately we have now
reached an agreement with
Royal Greenland allowing
for some payment for the
surplus kilos in the boxes. I
don’t know yet how much
this will amount to, but I
think it is a step in the right
direction that we now have
an agreement concerning
this faet.
Some fishermen have tak-
en their case to court, and
some of them have won. But
I dislike the idea of taking
such cases to court. It is
much better to have an agre-
ement in writing.
Courses for Fishermen
In addition KNAPK will
play an active role in further
training for fishermen and
hunters. To start with we
are planning a number of
courses on new tackle, taxa-
tion, repairs of cutters, and
most important, courses in
accounting.
We have also discussed
the establishment of a folk
high school for fishermen,
perhaps in collaboration
with the School of Naviga-
tion in Paamiut. I have dis-
cussed this with the princi-
pal of the school and he is
very positive. But at the mo-
ment the problem is a que-
stion of money, so unfortu-
nately we’ll probably not be
able to establish such a folk
high school for fishermen in
Greenland, Peter Davidsen,
who will be the chairman of
KNAPK up to 1993, conclu-
des.
Survival In the high
north
A new association, Survival
in the High North, has been
established.
Survival in the High
North was established last
year in May. So far the
members comprise most of
the fishing organizations in
the Western North.
At their meeting in Janu-
ary the Steering Committee
of KNAPK decided to apply
for membership of the new
association, Survival in the
High North (abb. SHN).
The application has been ac-
cepted, and KNAPK is now a
member of SHN.
The membership itself
was discussed at the mee-
ting of the Executive Com-
mittee in March, and the
Committee was unanimous
in its support for KNAPK’s
involvement in SHN.
According to the articles
of SHN the aim of the asso-
ciation is to strengthen the
fishing industry and hun-
ting, and hence the basis for
establishment of settle-
ments in the Northern Coa-
stal areas, by working for an
ecologically responsible ma-
nagement and commercial
exploitation of the living
marine resources, including
marine mammals.
SHN must work for a mo-
re intensive effort concer-
ning research of marine
mammals as well as better
information in order to bre-
ak down the barriers in the
international opinion which
today preclude a reasonable
management of the popula-
tions of marine mammals.
Members
The members of SHN today
comprise Norges Fiskarlag
(Norway), Føroya Fiski-
mannafelag (the Faroe Is-
les), Føroya Reidarafelag
(the Faroe Isles), De færøi-
ske Grindeformenn (the Fa-
roe Isles), Sjømmannasam-
band Island (Iceland), LIU
Fiskebåtredemes Lunds-
samband (Iceland), KNAPK
(Greenland), Samarbejdsor-
ganet for de seks Lofoten-
kommunerne-Lofotrådet,
(Norway), Nordland Små-
kvalfangerlaug (Norway),
and Norsk Selfangstfore-
ning (Norway). Thus most
fishing and hunting organi-
zations are represented in
SHN, in which they all have
a common interest, viz. the
exploitation of the marine li-
ving resources.
Today KNAPK is repre-
sented at the General Mee-
tings of ICC by one delegate,
and by representatives at
the meetings of the Liason
Committee on Fishing held
by the Nordic Council.
Apart from these KNAPK is
also represented in the Gre-
enlandic delegation to NA-
SCO’s meetings and in the
Danish delegation to the
meetings of IWC.
Organizational Efforts
Today KNAPK uses consi-
derable resources defending
the interests of the fisher-
men, the hunters, and the
Greenlanders in various or-
ganizations.
KNAPK’s efforts in this
field are of vital importance
for the fishing industiy and
the hunting communities as
well as for the Greenlandic
society, and this is reflected
in KNAPK’s involvement in
the various national and in-
ternational organizations.
SHN In IWC
Like other non-governmen-
tal organizations, the so-cal-
led NGOs, SHN took part as
an observer in the meeting
of the IWC in Holland last
year.
According to the Secreta-
ry of SHN the purpose of
participating in IWC’s mee-
ting was to defend and to
lobby for the whaling inter-
ests in Greenland, Iceland,
and Norway. Nowadays ma-
ny different interest groups
are represented as observers
at the meetings of the IWC.
Most of these observers re-
present such views as the
preservation of whales, or
opposition to whaling. Thus,
Peter Davidsen