Sikuaq Trawl director Carl Christensen: They must laugh at us Greenlanders in Iceland and the Faroe Islands

- Of course we are disappointed , then the refusal means that our trawler will be at berth for a significant part of 2026. They allocated quotas for shrimp and mackerel are far from enough for year-round fishing for the trawler.

That says Carl Christensen, who is the main owner and director of Sikuaq Trawl A/S Sermitsiaq.

- Of course we are disappointed , then the refusal means that our trawler will be at berth for a significant part of 2026. They allocated quotas for shrimp and mackerel are far from enough for year-round fishing for the trawler.

That says Carl Christensen, who is the main owner and director of Sikuaq Trawl A/S Sermitsiaq.

Like we wrote on 12 December last year that Sikuaq Trawl A/S with the trawler Svend C had applied for a seagoing cod quota in West Greenland in 2026.

The one on 19 December the company received from the Department of Fisheries, Catching, Agriculture and Self-sufficiency Naalakkersuisut's refusal.

Sikuaq Trawl estimates that the company's trawlers only fish for shrimp and mackerel approximately eight and a half months in 2026. In that scenario, there will be none shrimp quota to be transferred from this year to 2027. At the same time, the prospects for the future of the mackerel population in the North Atlantic extremely uncertain.

- Therefore, we are looking into an uncertain future, then as long as we only have shrimp and mackerel to fish, says Carl Christensen.

100 Percent local company

Sikuaq Trawl A/S is a 100 percent locally rooted and financially robust company with many years of experience.

Carl Christensen emphasizes that Sikuaq Trawl has always been among the shrimp companies with the highest prices obtained for the raw materials and given the best wages to the crews. Thus, the company has contributed well to Greenlandic society, says he.

They new actors

The one On 18 December, Naalakkersuisut distributed the ocean-going cod quota in West Greenland for 2026. The quota is a total of 16,000 tonnes. The quota has been divided between eight companies, five of which were allocated quotas in 2025.

That appears from an overview of the distribution Sikuaq Trawl has received from The Department of Fisheries, Catching, Agriculture and Self-Sufficiency. The overview has Sikuaq Trawl shared with Sermitsiaq.

The companies Arctic Prime Fisheries ApS, M/Tr Claudia, and Tuullik A/S are new this year fishing for sea-going cod in West Greenland.

They old acquaintances who get cod quotas off West Greenland again this year are Royal Greenland A/S, Polar Seafood Greenland A/S, Sigguk A/S and Qaleralik A/S.

The quotas on ocean-going cod in East Greenland is first distributed by Naalakkersuisut early 2026, when the bilateral fisheries negotiations between Greenland and Norway have ended in place.

Carl Christensen emphasizes that it is only fair that fully Greenlandic companies which M/tr Claudia and Tuullik A/S, have been allocated outside cod quotas at West Greenland in 2026.

Sikuaq Trawl A/S is outraged

- But in Sikuaq Trawl we are connected with the quota distribution resented that Naalakkersuisut allocates cod quotas i West Greenland to companies with strong foreign interests, says Carl Christensen.

Here he refers specifically to the companies Arctic Prime Fisheries ApS and Arsuk Food Ltd. The chairman of the board of Arctic Prime Fisheries ApS is the powerful and influential Icelandic businessman, Gudmundur Kristjánsson.

Kristjánsson is the biggest owner in the large Icelandic fishing group Brim hf. Arctic Prime Fisheries ApS is 100 percent owned by Arctic Prime Coastal ApS, as the Icelandic company, Línuskip ehf owns a third of

Hentzar Petersen, who lives in Qaqortoq, formally owns two-thirds of Arctic Prime Coastal ApS. Línuskip ehf. is 100 percent owned by Gudmundur Kristjánsson.

Loss-making Arctic Prime

If you dive into annual accounts, it appears that Arctic Prime Fisheries has had difficulty in generate profits.

From 2014 to 2024 has the annual accounts of Arctic Prime Fisheries ApS show a loss after tax eight times. Last year the deficit was DKK 12 million.

At group level shows the annual accounts 2024 for Arctic Prime Coastal ApS a negative equity of 228 million DKK

Carl Christensen wonders realized that Arctic Prime Fisheries ApS with the large quota of ocean-going cod in East Greenland, which the company has been allocated for many years, has not been in able to make money, as in previous years the company has predominantly realized deficit.

Carl Christensen says that he is convinced that if a Greenlandic fishing company showed the same results in Iceland, then it would not be long before the Greenlandic company was kicked out of the country.

Old familiar i Greenlandic fisheries

The great Faroese fishing group P/F JFK owns just under 20 percent of Arsuk Food ApS via the company Malik Seafood ApS. Owner and principal owner of P/F JFK, Hanus Hansen, is one old acquaintance in Greenlandic fishing.

In 2007, Hanus was Hansen and P/F JFK helped start the Arctic Prime companies until P/F JFK sold his shares to one of Gudmundur Kristjánsson's family businesses in 2014. From 2007 until 2013, Arctic Prime Fisheries ApS made a loss in all years except from 2011. Hanus Hansen is chairman of the board of Malik Seafood ApS, which owns i Arsuk Food ApS.

Arsuk Food ApS has i 2025 fished with the line boat Arsugaq. Arsugaq was flagged in from the Faroe Islands in 2025, where the liner was named Kvikk.

In the Norwegian Maritime Authority's Ship Magazine website, it appears that the vessel's former owner, P/F Kvikk, has a full lien in Arsugaq. P/F Kvikk is 100 percent owned by P/F JFK. But the mortgage in the vessel indicates accordingly Sermitsiaq's information that P/F JFK has more to say in Arsuk Food ApS, than what the ownership share dictates.

Carl Christensen wonders aware that Sikuaq Trawl A/S is being refused a cod quota with the fishing capacity as a justification at the same time that Skibsbladet shows that Arctic Prime Fisheries ApS on 3 December has been granted permission to flag the large Icelandic ice fishing trawler Helga Maria, which has now been named Ilivileq. Arctic Prime Fisheries ApS thus now has two trawlers Tasermiut and Ilivileq.

- I understand well if people in Iceland and the Faroe Islands laugh at us Greenlanders. Instead of that bet on fully on local companies are now given precious cod quotas to companies with strong foreign interests. It is tragicomic, says Carl Christensen.

Has not lost hope

Has Have you now lost hope of seagoing cod quota?

- No, not at all. In fishing you must always be optimistic and believe in things. We mean that we have a good case. If you want development in Greenland's fisheries, it only gives opinion that locally-based companies are allocated quotas, says Carl Christensen.