4m 36sLength

Over the years the Dutch fishing industry has won a major position on the international market. A quarter of all fish is landed by the national fleet. The remaining three-quarters are imports. Eighty per cent of all fish is sold abroad which makes the Netherlands one of Europe's few net exporters, countries whose fish exports exceed their imports. Imports are currently some 2.2 billion euro, whereas exports generate over 2.5 billion euro, going mostly to European countries. Location, energy and a rich maritime history created a fishing fleet of which the Dutch are proud; versatile and modern. In its present form, the Dutch fleet can roughly be divided into two parts: the cutter fleet and the trawler fleet. The cutter fleet consists of 427 cutter vessels, mostly beam cutters, which mainly fish for flatfish such as plaice and sole. There are also smaller euro-cutters and specialized shrimp cutters. Trawlers mostly fish for herring, mackerel, horse mackerel and sardinella, catches being processed immediately and frozen on board. And there is the modern mussel fleet, consisting of some 65 vessels with sophisticated equipment for farming and harvesting mussels. More information about the Dutch import and export companies; www.dutchfish.nl