Talks on quota distribution between the EU, Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands have broken down completely this month, and some now see a “mackerel war” brewing.
The talks aimed at securing a joint total catch level for mackerel in the north Atlantic have come to a screeching halt in December, resulting in great frustration among Scottish fishermen and rumours that the European Commission is considering sanctions against the island states.
Early this fall, Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki threatened that vessels from Iceland and the Faroe Islands may be blocked out from Union waters if the conflict is not solved, and that it may interfere with Iceland’s membership talks, which opened last July. The other major probing stone in those negotiations, repercussions on Dutch and British savers from the collapse of Icelandic banks, was done away with recently.
Mackerel is an important catch in all the countries involved, as well as for parts of the Russian fleet, and previous joint management arrangements have broken down after changes in stock distribution, leaving more fish in Icelandic and Faroe waters. The two countries claim that they should now have a greater share of the stock and set unilateral quotas for 2010.
They consider the divisions proposed by the EU and Norway “totally unjustified” as more than 90 percent of the total catches would remain with them. According to one of the key negotiators, Norway has been refusing to increase the Icelandic share beyond 3.1 percent and Iceland found this unacceptable.