Paardenvissers – The horseback shrimpers from Oostduinkerke
For more than 500 years, fishermen have been catching shrimp in the North Sea with horse and trawl net. For generations, man and animal have braved wind, weather and rough seas. The tradition was once widespread along the entire coast: in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Great Britain. In Koksijde near Ostend, horse fishing has been documented since 1502. Today, it is the only place in the world where shrimps are still caught by horse. The craft has been declared Unesco intangible world heritage since 2013.
The North Sea hosts rich biodiversity. Over 2000 species of animals and plants live in Belgium’s part of the North Sea, which is the biggest nature reserve in Belgium. As consequence of climate change the sea level of the North Sea will rise up. This signifies that Belgium’s coast will be flooded and will be uninhabitable.
Many catchment areas of the North Sea’s inflows like Schelde or Maas are densely populated, heavily industrialized and used intensively agriculturally. Thereby they are the main source of pollution for the ocean. Shrimp fishing is in the third place among fisheries in the North Sea. That means it has great economically importance and a healthy ocean, ecosystem and climate is indispensable for coastal inhabitants.
