On Friday evening, the Norwegian Environment Agency decided that salmon fishing will be stopped in 33 rivers in Norway. According to the directorate, the closure is necessary to protect the salmon population. – I don’t know what we are going to do when we don’t know if we will get the money back, says Martin Fossli. He is one of many fishermen who have paid for both travel, accommodation and fishing rights they are now unable to use. Lack of money for holiday Fossli, who currently lives in Tromsø, was going on holiday at Grande Gaard together with his father, wife and children. There they were to fish for salmon in the river Namsen from Monday to Wednesday. Two days of fishing and accommodation cost the family NOK 12,500. – It is clear that it is a large part of the holiday budget. Since it became clear that the river was closed to fishing on Friday, Fossli has tried to get the money refunded so that the family can do something with the holidays. – It has been difficult to get concrete answers from the landowner. We are only told to talk to our insurance company. Fossli explains that he will not get the money back on the travel insurance. Now he wants the landowner to take action. – I think it is very unprofessional to train this for several days. – It is no secret that they have persisted for many years and made a lot of money on salmon fishing. Then they should be able to handle this more quickly. The family is now in Trondheim, but without getting the money back they don’t know what to do with the holiday. – I don’t have 12,500 lying around so we can do something else. Getting the money back – We know very little about what will happen in the future, says Anne Ovidie Hagerup. She ran the Grande Gaard where Fossli and his family would fish for salmon. She says the situation has been unclear after the closure came suddenly on Friday evening. – We are unsure what goes on the fishermen’s travel insurance, what goes on our insurance and what we have to pay. – We are working to get an overview and we will sort it out financially with the fishermen, also Anne Ovidie Hagerup runs Grande Gaard. She says that the situation has been unclear after salmon fishing was stopped at short notice. Photo: Eivind Aabakken Some hours after news made contact, both parties have confirmed that Fossli will get the money back. Hagerup says the refund took a few days since the situation after salmon fishing was closed has been chaotic. She wishes the authorities handled the situation in a different way. – This is a difficult situation. They closed the river suddenly and now we know very little about when it will open for fishing again. Thinks the state must take the bill – It is not the fishermen or the rights holders in rivers who are the reason why the rivers are closed, and then it is not they who should take the bill, says Torfinn Evensen. He is general secretary of Norske Lakseelver. Evensen points out that it is the farming industry, hydropower and climate change that have meant that the Norwegian Environment Agency is now forced to close the salmon rivers. – We will now intervene to put in place a reimbursement scheme for those who lose income due to the current situation. – This is an extraordinary situation and we think there is a basis for looking at a reimbursement scheme. Evensen believes it is still too early to say how such a reimbursement scheme will work. – A track was climbed during the pandemic. We believe it can be used as a template, while the scheme must be adapted to the current situation. Guarantees reimbursement Statskog manages and sells fishing licenses in a number of salmon rivers. They guarantee that fishermen who have bought fishing licenses will get their money refunded. Statskog reports this in a press release. – All our card purchasers in the closed salmon rivers have already received a message from us about the situation, says specialist manager for hunting and fishing, Jo Inge Breisjøberget. – We can also assure those who have a fishing license from Statskog in a closed salmon river, that they will be refunded the purchase of the card. Statskog will carry out the refund as soon as the situation is clarified. Published 24.06.2024, at 14.21
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