Five major Dutch fishing companies have been accused of forming a powerful oligopoly that dominates European fishing, according to two new investigations published by environmental group Bloom.

The reports allege that the five groups — Parlevliet & Van der Plas (P&P), Cornelis Vrolijk, Van der Zwan, Alda Seafood and the De Boer family — operate an “opaque empire” of around 400 subsidiaries worldwide.

Together, they control 230 vessels and are heavily involved in forms of industrial fishing described as among the most destructive, including pelagic trawling and bottom trawling, the reports say.

The investigations by the French-based NGO were carried out in cooperation with Dutch investigative journalism platform Spit.

Bloom says the five companies, referred to collectively as the “Big Five”, not only dominate fish quotas at the expense of small-scale fishermen, but also exert undue influence over European fisheries policy and are members of 15 different lobby groups.

Brexit subsidies

The second investigation focuses on the use of European subsidies awarded to Dutch shipowners after Brexit.

Bloom claims that a large share of these funds — €61.5 million out of a €135 million pot — went to dismantling vessels that had been practising pulse fishing, much of it under what the group says were illegal licences. Pulse fishing was banned by the European Union in 2021.

In addition, six factory trawlers belonging to the Big Five reportedly received €22.6 million in Brexit-linked “temporary cessation” payments — subsidies intended to support vessels that suspend fishing activity. But according to Bloom’s analysis, the ships did not significantly reduce their operations and all retained licences to fish in British waters.

Dutch News has contacted all five companies for comment.

The Pelagic Freezer Trawler Association told news website The Fishing Daily that the report is both one-sided and distorted. The report, the PFA told the website, “unfairly portrays lawful actions as suspicious, despite full compliance with national and EU laws and regulations”.