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ICELAND appears to be setting itself on a collision course with its neighbour Norway and the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) after unilaterally declaring a 112,000 ton mackerel quota for this year.
The North Atlantic Commission has strongly opposed the move which itself has set a 640,000 tonne quota for Norway and European Union member countries, in excess of international recommendations. For whatever reasons, Iceland has not been given a share in that quota deal by NEAFC and this has not gone down well in Reykjavik.
The controversial move was announced earlier this week by Iceland's fisheries ministry. Some people within the government are clearly rattled by what they regard as a high handed move by NEAFC members.
But according to the Reykjavik based website IcelandReview.com and the newspaper Fréttabladid Helga Pedersen, Norway's Fisheries Minister may take action against the Icelanders by denying any of their trawlers which had caught mackerel this year the right to fish in Norwegian waters.
They say the dispute has alarmed Iceland's fishing vessel owners who are calling for urgent talks between the two countries to find a way out of the impasse before it becomes too serious.
The move is seen as part of a 'get tough' move by Oslo over what they regard as increasing unregulated or illegal fishing. In the same week three Russian trawlers were arrested by Norwegian coastguard vessels for alleged illegal fishing. The arrests came on the day the two countries discussed avoiding such future infringements.
Should fisheries be closed during breeding time to allow stocks to reach more sustainable levels?
