I am writing this page in English and German with Google translator. Click the English version or German version and see the result. Back to Danish version and see the original text. Over the past few years, more and more associations' stretches of the rivers have been privatized in connection with acquisitions, whereby fewer and fewer have access to the salmon fishing, which is largely created by voluntary work in the associations - as well as public funds. The latest development in the "Salmon War" is that Varde Sports Fishermen's Association has quarantined fishing on one of the good stretches of the river. But what is really the upside and downside of this case? We have spoken with VSF's chairman - Steen Thomsen, DSF's chairman Torben Kaas - as well as the lot owners on the said stretch - Peter Nissen and Hans Uhre Schmidt. AF JENS BURSELL VSF has lost this fishing stretch in 2024 after Peter Nissen has declared "Salmon War" to Chairman Steen Thomsen in the association. Here you can see the fishing stretch that Peter Nissen has bought up, so now he is the owner of the meadow and set VSF "The chair for the door". But GSF must continue fishing here. SALMON FISHING IN VARDE Å is known far and wide - both among Danes and foreigners. And there is a good reason for that. Along the idyllic stream there are very good chances of coming into contact with beautiful salmon - and the chance of one of the really big ones is always present. The record for the stream is thus no less than 20.4 kilos. The beautiful fish was taken by Laurids Meldgaard in 2010. But - over the last while, the idyll has been broken all around West Jutland, because more and more stretches along the Danish salmon rivers are being privatized, to the chagrin of the many - and to the delight of the few. One of those who have taken the word out is the chairman of the Varde Sports Fishing Association - Steen Thomsen, which recently resulted in the owners - Hans Uhre Schmidt and Peter Nissen - giving the entire association a quarantine from two of the really good stretches in Zone 2 - namely the Hesseldalbro and Hodde Sø stretch from the start of the 2024 season. Grindsted SF, which has previously shared the stretch with Varde SF, is not excluded. Fisk & Fri has had a conversation with all parties in the case to shed light on the history - based on the thesis that dialogue and openness will be the way forward if we are to ensure a salmon fishery in the future where everyone has a chance to participate. Varde Sportsfishing Association is quarantined at the Hodde/Hessel stretch: I naturally think that it is extremely annoying that it has come to the point that the Varde Sportsfishing Association (VSF) is quarantined, says Steen Thomsen, who is chairman of the Varde Sports Fishermen's Association - not least because I have in black and white, in the form of an email we received half a year ago, that the two landowners have previously informed us that we can rent the fishing rights on the affected stretches when they 3-year lease agreements with the lot owners in the area must be renegotiated at the end of the ongoing 2023 season. Here in West Jutland, we are otherwise used to a word being a word - but obviously not in this case. I must take note that the two landowners have the experience that I, as chairman, am running a one-man show, where the rest of the VSF board is not involved in the decisions and discussions about how we as an association should approach the challenges , we are experiencing with the increased privatization and consortium formation at Varde Creek. However, nothing is more wrong. The positions and views I present at meetings - and when various media ask for our views and positions - are of course always coordinated with the board. The frenzy and the image of the enemy that I am personally accused of driving against private individuals and private consortia has nothing to do with it. We only describe the facts as they are and generally do not name individuals when we make statements. That is why I was also happy that the rest of the board, on the basis of the article in Jutland Vestkysten, where the two landowners went after me as a person, recently inserted a letter to readers in Jutland Vestkysten with full support for the positions that we as a collective board stand for for - as well as with full support for me as chairman. There is no one above the association and the association's purpose. Therefore, in a similar way, at the VSF's general meeting in February, we will ask the general meeting (which is typically attended by approx. 100 members) whether it agrees with the line we have laid out in the board, and whether there is still support for me as Chairman. There is no glue on either my or anyone else's chair on the board - and if there is a majority for us to go another way, or for a new chairman to be elected, then of course that is the way we have to go. I would like to emphasize that we do not in any way experience similar conflicts with some of our other more than 100 individual lot owners and lot owner associations on the Varde Creek system. In general, we experience great support and recognition here for the water care work etc. that we as an association continuously carry out in the å system. We really appreciate that! DSF: The balance of the salmon waters is about to tip: The Danish salmon adventure has come about because volunteers have spent thousands of hours on water care and spawning, and because large public funds have been spent on restoring the streams , adds Torben Kaas - chairman of DSF. - Then it is really a pity that the general population is excluded from enjoying the fruits of the effort, because fishing is only made available to smaller groups in consortia. Fishing does not have to be free, but there is a balance where the price becomes so high, or the number of places so limited, that you can no longer talk about fishing for most people. That balance is tipping to the wrong side in some places, and that is wrong in my eyes. Dialogue about fishing on the salmon rivers is the way forward: From VSF's board, we have indicated many times to the private individuals and consortia who, like VSF, are members of the Varde Creek Association in order to participate in the salmon fishery, that we are always ready for dialogue and that it will not be us who is going to slam the door, Steen continues. - Our starting point in a continued dialogue will still be that the large restoration projects in the Varde Creek system in recent decades have been carried out for, among other things, tax and EU funds, i.e. funds from the large treasury to which all taxpayers contribute. Added to this is the ongoing collaboration between Varde Municipality and VSF etc., which aims to improve the aquatic environment, including spawning and rearing conditions for salmon and sea trout. Voluntary members of VSF have over many, many years provided thousands of working hours in this connection and they have, if anyone, the credit for the fact that there are fish to be caught in the Varde Creek system. We therefore see it as completely logical and natural that those who have created the values should also have access to them - and not, as we have experienced so far, that private consortia etc., which we did not see at the river before the return of the salmon, terminate our lease agreements in stretches where we have otherwise had fishing rights for many, many years. It should still be the case that a father can take his children - and a grandfather his grandchildren - to the river and get great nature experiences with a fishing rod in hand via the purchase of an annual or daily card at an affordable price. So, even if the dialogue has narrow conditions at the moment, it must be one of the elements in a future solution to the challenges as we see them. With respect for private property rights, when approving future watercourse restoration projects, the politicians should ensure that it is written into the projects that it is a condition that the public must have access to the values that will hopefully be the result of these future projects. We should work on this both locally - and with the help of the Danish Sports Fishermen's Association in relation to the politicians at Christiansborg. DSF's chairman supports Steen Thomsen and the Varde Sports Fishing Association: I still believe in dialogue and common solutions, he says. As anglers, we must of course respect property rights and the landowners' need to make money on the land they own. I also find that the vast majority of landowners fully agree that the salmon fishing, which they can now sell expensively, is a value created by volunteers and by taxpayers. Apart from a few examples, the lot owners have a good understanding of the situation and, moreover, a desire to give something back to the local community where they live. So let's drink some coffee along Varde Creek, so that together we can find solutions that make sense locally. Ideally, I saw that there was no need to do anything in general, emphasizes Torben. - Rules and external measures do not make anyone happy. At the same time, I don't think we can continue to see that the anglers' voluntary work and public subsidies only benefit the landowners. I could imagine that at least the public support kroner will be made available with a requirement that the project must benefit the Danish population and not just the landowner. This is a point of view I take with me to my ongoing meetings with our politicians at Christiansborg. Again - it must not be free to fish for salmon, but it must be possible for most people to acquire a fishing license and participate in fishing. What do the lot owners think of Varde Creek? But what does Hans Uhre Schmidt think, who has quarantined Varde SF for their old stretch of the river, and formed the Nørholm Fishing Consortium with access for fewer fishermen than before? The owner of Nørholm Gods has always said that he does not want to lease his fishing water to Varde SF because he does not want 800 people to walk that stretch, explains Hans. - On the contrary, he has said that he will rent it out to a maximum of 40 men + 2 guests. That is in reality 120 men if all fished at the same time. This stretch has never been rented by Varde SF - and thus they have not missed anything with the new edition of Nørholm Fiskekonsortium, where there is now room for 30 members. The new Nørholm Konsortium thus fully complies with the rules of the Varde Creek Association - among other things, not to steal water from others. According to the rules, members of VÅS must contribute to Vandplejen to get a share of the salmon quotas. Of course, we cannot do this retroactively - but we will of course do so in the future in the form of payment for salmon fry etc. In our consortium, 80% of the profit goes to water and fish care in the entire Varde Creek system - so it is calculated into the model. There is thus nothing to look for here either. In the old Nørholm Konsortium, there were also quite a few members from Varde SF - and they were given - when I took over the consortium - the opportunity to join as first priority if they wanted. However, only one of the former members wanted it because the price had increased. It therefore seems strange to me that Varde SF's chairman publicly incites me in Jutland West Coast for having formed this consortium - as it is water that Varde SF itself has never had - and would never get anyway. Moreover, it rings hollow when several of those who criticize private salmon consortia in Denmark - themselves like to fish under similar arrangements - just in Norway. I have not harassed Hans Uhre Schmidt in the West Coast of Jutland, comments Steen Thomsen. - Hans must distinguish between what I am factually quoted as saying and what the journalist writes on his own. I have no influence on the latter, says Steen Thomsen. What really hit the nail on the head was when Steen Thomsen unjustifiably reported Nørholm Estate for breaching the Nature Protection Act by pruning self-sown willow and alder trees along the stream on the stretch where Varde SF has the opposite bank. It turns out three days later that we are acquitted because there was no breach of the Nature Conservation Act. Steen Thomsen's course of action in this matter creates division between anglers - and it is a "war" that has gone completely off track. To this, Steen Thomsen says that he has not reported anyone for anything. It is a gross distortion. I was contacted by one of our members, who asked me to investigate whether Varde Municipality had given permission for the pruning on the same terms as Varde Municipality applies when Varde Sports Fishing Association prunes new shoots of willow and elm by the stream before the start of the season. I asked the municipality about that - and there is nothing more to it. Will maximum public access benefit the river and the salmon population? Enough is enough. We do not want to accept that - and it is on this basis that we have quarantined Varde SF for the above-mentioned stretches that we own - and have willingly rented out to Varde SF in the past. Poor members - it's not their fault, but Varde SF's chairman needs to learn to behave properly. He obviously can't, which is the reason for the quarantine. Another thing that should be carefully considered in connection with the proposal that public subsidies for watercourse restoration must be coupled with requirements for future public access is that many landowners - for example Nørholm Gods - might want to opt out because they do not want the increased traffic , public access can therefore in the long run lead to Peter Nissen also has a plot of land. which is included under the Nørholm piece - a piece that Varde SF was originally offered themselves, but which they opted out of because they thought it was too expensive. This stretch - Vesterbæk - is one of the best stretches on Varde Creek. Oddly enough, the additional price is a few kroner per wide meter, which they thought was too expensive, now a price level that has already been exceeded on several other of the association's fishing areas. It is thus also Steen Thomsen's fault that Vesterbæk is not in Varde SF's hands today. (ED: see Steen's comment on this further down, where Peter Nissen mentions the same case) If you want the best for the salmon - and we all want that. Then you can consider the Nørholm stretch as a refuge for the salmon. If it had been Varde SF that had had the stretch, then the best places would perhaps be fished through 10-20 times a day. But now there is only fly fishing - and many of the members come from afar. Both parts mean less pressure on the stock, because fewer fish are caught and released. As a final comment, one of the former chairmen of Varde SF has actually been offered the right to fish at Nørholm Gods, but the then board did not want it - "as they did not want to steal water/compete with neighboring associations". But perhaps the decision was based on the fact that several of the members from Varde SF themselves fished in the "neighboring consortium" and therefore did not want to lose their own exclusive fishing by letting it pass to Varde SF? In Jyske Vestkysten, Jørgen Kvist Rønnest wrote "I am indignant that in the future boys and girls in Varde may not be allowed to fish in the best fishing areas. That it will be a rich few who can fish, while others can stand on the bridge and look on". - It's hypocrisy. He himself has been with the Nørholm Konsortiet for 30 years - and as far as is known, has not himself invited any poor "boys & girls" into the consortium... What does Peter Nissen - owner of the Hodde Lake stretch think? It is absolutely correct that the intention has been that VSF should continue as tenant together with Grindsted Sportsfisherforening on Hodde Sø and Hesseldalstykket, says Peter Nissen, who is also on the board of Nørholm Fiskekonsortium. - Regrettably, Steen Thomsen's behavior has now reached such a low point that we have seen ourselves forced to call it quits. Steen and Steen alone bear the blame for the fact that the members of the VSF cannot fish in the mentioned places for the next 2 years. Members from Grindsted can of course continue to fish, and we lower the rent by 90% compared to what is paid today. This is in no way about money. Fishermen from Grindsted Sportsfisherforening must of course not be without our fishing water due to Steen Thomsen's thoroughly indecent behaviour. The last meeting of the Varde Creek Association was held on 21 June. On the same evening of the meeting, a member of the board of the Varde Sports Fishermen's Association confirmed that he was not aware of Steen's misdeeds in reporting Nørholm. In other words, more than 50 days after Steen's report, a board member states that he was not informed. Steen's alleged voting of views with his own board has apparently not taken place. Yet another example of Steen telling the story that sounds best, regardless of whether he is again lying. I am of course not lying, says Steen Thomsen. On 1 May 2023, I sent the aforementioned inquiry (not notification) to Varde Municipality and to all board members of Varde Sports Fishing Association by email. So that a member of the Varde Sports Fishing Association's board was not informed simply does not fit. (ED: We at the editorial office have asked to see these emails - and can ascertain 1) that it is correct that Steen Thomsen has not "reported" Nørholm - but merely sent a polite inquiry about the cut and 2) the board has been informed with copy of email). VSF and GSFF share the fishing rights on the mentioned pieces. More than fifty days after the report, Steen had also not found it worthwhile to inform the chairman of Grindsted Sportsfisherforening about the completely inappropriate report of Nørholm. Voting with the board members - wasn't that how Steen expressed it? The reason for our statements in Jutland's West Coast should basically be found in an article in Sportsfiskeren from April/May. Steen Thomsen leads the way with stories that are consistently outright lies. Which he necessarily partially acknowledged at the meeting in question. Steen is quoted as saying "We simply experience some prices for renting fishing water that we cannot match at all. It does not fit, and Steen knows it well. The highest price that is paid for fishing water in the entire Varde Creek, it is paid by Steen namely in zone 2 in Varde Creek. Steen continues in the article to take credit for the recovery of Varde Creek. This is another untruth. Ribe County, Forest and Nature Agency as well as Sydenergi and maybe 4 young high school friends pulled the load. Steen decorates himself to such an extent with borrowed feathers. Honor to whom honor is due. Steen blows it, he tries to score points regardless of what means he has to use. To this Steen Thomsen says: It is incredibly rude to claim that I personally want to take credit for the recovery - that is nonsense, I could never dream of postulating that. It would be appropriate if Peter Nissen would state where I am concretely trying to take credit? We all know that the large nature restoration projects in the Varde Creek system are financed by EU funds, tax funds and fishing license funds, etc. supplemented by a large voluntary effort over many years by, among others, members of the Varde Sports Fishing Association. One last example from Sportsfiskeren: Steen talks nicely about VÅS trying to get its statutes changed regarding the distribution of the salmon quota in Varde Creek. Another untruth. It wasn't VÅS, it was Steen's own proposals. Proposals which would largely eliminate the quota for the private landowners and the smaller associations. The disagreements only found their solution after the involvement of, among other things, the lawyer for the Danish Sports Fishing Association. Steen sums up the result like this in Sportsfiskeren "You can argue by a long way that the other party was right". An exposition worthy of Comic Ali from the Iraq War. Steen's own lawyer completely saw off Steen's legs and gave the other party 100% right on all points. Steen was thrown off the board by the association's own lawyer. To this Steen Thomsen says: Shortly after I was elected as chairman of the Varde Sports Fishing Association in 2019, we in the Varde Creek Association (VÅS), including Peter Nissen, agreed that it would make sense to let our lawyers give the articles of association for VÅS a service check, including a proposal for changes to the articles of association that we from Varde Sportsfisherforening wanted to put forward. That way we could get legal clarification of what could be incorporated into the articles of association and what could not. In the Varde Sportsfishing Association's board, we had several thorough discussions of the proposed articles of association - and it is completely wrong when Peter Nissen also tries to paint a picture in this context that it was my personal proposals and interests that were put forward. This is quite untrue and I can provide plenty of documents to support this. I have acknowledged on several occasions that it was our counterpart who in this case clearly got the best out of the lawyers' assessments - but we got the clarification we were all looking for, so there is currently no doubt about what we must and must not in relation to the management of the salmon quota. (EDIT: We at the editorial office have seen the communication regarding this and can ascertain that the proposed articles of association have been discussed in close dialogue with VSFF's board, which has had the opportunity to raise objections). Morality, ethics and propriety: Finally came Steen's report of Nørholm for the illegalities mentioned above, Peter continues. - On 1 May at 15:29, Steen sends a so-called inquiry to Varde Municipality. The inquiry is actually a review. Steen makes a big deal out of the fact that the crime took place along the fishing waters where the new association on Nørholm has fishing rights. The review is in no way about Nørholm. It is a direct attack on the new association. A few days later, after a visit by a biologist from Varde Municipality, the verdict comes. No violation of any law has occurred. (ED: See Steen Thomsen's comment on this further up, where Hans Uhre Schmidt mentions the same case. I have not reported anyone, I have sent an inquiry to Varde Municipality. Steen says in Sportsfiskeren: "Ultimately, the battle for the fishing water is about morality, ethics and propriety - just read it one more time. Yes, it was Steen Thomsen who used the words. Steen has got the support of his board, which says "Steen has not incited anyone. Steen is clean". Our comment on this is that Steen's lies do not become the truth because they are repeated by the board. Steen claims that he has no problems with other landowners. Well, we don't have problems with Steen as landowners either, but we have problems with Steen as members of associations, which Steen would prefer to see eradicated. This is where the problem lies. As an addendum, we would just like to mention that four landowners who lease fishing water to VSF are currently considering whether it should continue on top of Steen's unodes . Over the years, Varde SF's chairman Steen Thomsen has repeatedly told the above story about the father and the children and the grandfather and the grandchildren, who will soon no longer be able to fish in Varde Creek. It is told at the same time that VSF has more fishing water along Varde Creek than in several years. The story is good, but it is not relevant except for Steen's great eagerness for support. Steen encourages dialogue and does not slam the door, but he has previously stated that if others are not right, then hard will be dealt with. He tried that around the quotas, and Steen has tried that on several other occasions. Figuratively speaking, he has pointed the gun at others again and again. Looking after Steen, he will most likely discover the holes in his own shoes after fumbling with his gun and shooting himself in the feet. We have happy fishermen in our associations. We have a good collaboration where we talk about things with our relatively few landowners. We generally believe in good dialogue, but we also expect that morality, ethics and propriety are not just empty words, but are reflected in action. This is exactly what is currently in great short supply at Steen Thomsen. Hans has mentioned the so-called Vesterbæk piece above. After our purchase of this, my wife determined that VSF should continue to fish the piece. Steen, the cashier and I held a meeting. The stretch of just over 1,600 meters is considered very good fishing water, and it is right up to zone 2. I wanted a payment like in zone 2, not because of the economy, but on principle. The cashier said yes, but Steen said no because of a few kroner. Steen can once again look back on a victory: He got his way, while the members of VSF lost 1650 meters of coveted fishing water, concludes Peter Nissen. To this, Steen Thomsen comments: Varde Sportsfisher Association's treasurer and I both agreed, after also turning it over with the board, to refuse to rent the stretch, because it would lead to different price levels for broad rent on this zone. It is thus not true when Peter Nissen claims that the treasurer agreed to enter into the lease - this can of course be confirmed by the treasurer if desired. Part of the story, what Peter Nissen does not mention here in the article, is that the Varde Sports Fishermen's Association also had to deliver a number of annual passes to the association's fishing water on top of the fishing lodge - annual passes worth approx. DKK 2,000 each. Here you can see the fishing stretch that Peter Nissen has bought up, so now he is the owner of the meadow and set VSF "The chair for the door". But GSF must continue to fish here. Varde Sports Fishing Association: 100% support for the chairman Posted by Media Committee | VSF - 09/17/2023 - Articles, News Varde Sports Fishing Association: 100% support for the chairman After the newspaper article in Jydske Vestkysten - "The salmon war explodes in Varde Creek" from 17 August 2023, a joint board from the Varde Sports Fishermen's Association hereby expresses 100% support for the chairman Steen Thomsen. In the article in JV from 17/8 2023, Peter Nissen and Hans Uhre Schmidt exclusively accuse Steen Thomsen of having exposed the two to harassment and unreasonable attacks. Steen Thomsen has at no time exposed anyone to anything resembling harassment and unreasonable attacks. The situation is that companies and private individuals have acquired several highly attractive fishing stretches in the Varde Creek System. Fishing areas that Varde Sports Fishing Association members have been able to fish from for many, many years. In addition, these companies and private individuals have visited several of the landowners, who for many years have leased the fishing rights to Varde Sports Fishing Association, in order to persuade these landowners to lease to them instead. Fortunately, many landowners have turned down the offers - thank you for that. Steen Thomsen, as chairman of the Varde Sports Fishermen's Association, has naturally expressed concern and annoyance that the Varde Sports Fishermen's Association and thus ordinary citizens, young and old, can no longer fish in these attractive fishing areas. This concern and annoyance is naturally shared by the entire board. The board of the Varde Sports Fishing Association Søren Porsgaard, Ole Dastrup, Helge Højstrup Jensen, Thomas Lindberg Tranberg, Jeppe Beck Danielsen, Jakob Sørensen, Kurt Dam, Jan Porsgaard. Welcome to the Varde Sports Fishing Association General Assembly for 2023 Thursday 29 February 2024 at 19.00 at Sportium, Lerpøtvej 55, 6800 Varde. The general meeting is now over, so the chairman's presentation can be read below on the 3 PDF files: The agenda can be read - HERE. The chairman's report can be read - HERE. The chairman's presentation can be read - HERE.

Google Earth Pro printout of the lost fishing stretch in 2024 from Peter Nissen (Hodde Sø) and Hans Uhre Schmidt (Hesseldalbro)

"Shelter" at Hodde Sø April 2023
   

In May 2016, the owners of Nørholm Gods A/S chose to put the estate up for sale for the net sum of DKK 130 million. The deal also includes Hotel Sig for DKK 4 million. DKK


Nørholm Gods A/S 2016

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