FARNET
Fisheries Areas Network
FLAG Factsheet
This FLAG area covers the municipality of Thisted (the area around the town of Thy), situated on the north-west coast of Jutland, and the municipality of Morsø (the island of Mors) located in the Limfjord.
Thy and Mors are characterised by a few large manufacturing companies with expertise in health technology and robotics, and more traditional production companies in the metal, wood, and food industries.
The economy is mainly based on agriculture, fishing and a large number of small companies. Fishing plays an important role in the areas economy, as Denmark’s third largest port of consumer-fishing is situated in the town of Hanstholm, in Thy.
Fishing for human consumption is concentrated on the North Sea coast while shell and mussels’ production is mainly found in Mors and the Limfjord. The town of Hanstholm has great potential for growth in new blue jobs.
The region experiences challenges due to a declining population. These include a decreasing income base for tax payments, falling house prices, a declining number of children, declining education facilities, an increase in the overall average age and the closing of health care facilities.
The area includes Thy national park and the Vejlerne bird sanctuary, which is an internationally important Ramsar area. A large part of the coastal area towards the North Sea is a Natura 2000 area.
The FLAG strategy aims to respond to the area’s social challenges by investing in the local economy:
National
EMFF and EAFRD
Ørhagevej 84 – (Diversification)
This project renovates an old auto repair shop building at Ørhagevej 84 in Klitmøller (the surfer’s paradise Cold Hawaii). After the renovation, the building will house three companies: a little shop, a guest-house for surfers and tourists, and shared office facilities for both short time guests and permanent local companies. These facilities will make it easy for tourists to stay a couple of days longer, as you just plug in your PC and you are ready to work.
Security equipment for maritime outdoor activities – (Diversification)
This project invests in security and rescue equipment that are to be used in connection with maritime events of all kinds. The equipment is legally required during public events, but is not available in the area. It will support existing business for the project holder and increase his opportunities for new business.
Sea packed line mussels (New method to sort, clean and pack mussels at sea)
This project will develop a method that makes it possible to clean, sort and pack up mussels, directly on the harvest vessel while still at sea. This new technology will require a new type of machine to clean the mussels. This new technology should help the fishermen’s business become more competitive by significantly improving the quality of the product (thanks to more gentle processing) as well as the efficiency of the process.
Grønne Frikadeller (strengthen product development and processing of raw materials)
The new company will produce ”Grønne Frikadeller” (= Green meatballs – without meat). It is a new type of food, made mainly of vegetables. One “Green” variant is 80% vegetables and 20% meat. The “Chicken” variant is 68% vegetables and 15% chicken. The “Fish” variant is 75% vegetables and 25% fish. The products do not contain any allergens, additives or E-numbers. Which means that, regardless of allergies or religion, customers can find a variant that suits them. This is really looking into the future, especially when comparing how much damage the production of meat causes the climate and environment.
Project Hanstholm (strengthen cooperation in the fishing industry)
The local business council in Thy (Thisted) is supporting the different actors in the fishing port of Hanstholm in developing a common identity and thereby strengthening the cooperation of the different industries, that will give the port a strong common message, to gain future business and development. The first goal is a joint participation at the European Sea Food Exhibition 2017.
Growing seaweed in Hanstholm (use of new raw materials from the sea and fjord)
This project is changing the production of seaweed from a test scale to a full commercial scale. The production site is located in Hanstholm, one of the largest fishing ports in Denmark.
All LAGs and FLAGs in Denmark use the online system PROMIS, and therefore applications are received on an ongoing basis. It can be accessed on: promis.erst.dk
The Danish Managing Authority examines the applications three times a year (in January, March and September indicatively).
The Thy-Mors FLAG is new and will be looking for cooperation opportunities by attending seminars and meeting with other FLAGs the coming years.
The Integrated Thy-Mors LAG is a joint LAG-FLAG, sharing a legal structure and board members. The FLAG and LAG covers identical areas. The strategies are integrated within the same document, but with distinct analyses and objectives etc. with respect to EAFRD and EMFF.
The integrated LAG Thy-Mors also has informal cooperation with two LAG/FLAG networks:
Network NORD and Network VEST and thus has no hesitation, contacting any LAG or FLAG if they can help to solve a problem.
The integrated LAG board members are mostly citizens of the municipalities of Thisted and Morsø.
Each member represents one of the following groups: local citizens, local business and business organisations, nature, environmental, culture, citizen and leisure organisations, public authorities and fisheries organisations.
Outside of the board the integrated LAG also works with a wide range of local stakeholders on a informal level: eg. local business councils, local tourist organisations and local and regional organisations.
