ICELAND is attempting to cool the growing fishing dispute over mackerel quotas.
The two normally friendly Nordic countries are at loggerheads after Iceland unilaterally gave herself a quota of 112,000 tonnes of mackerel.
The move immediately put the country at odds with North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission which itself has set a quota of 640,000 tonnes of mackerel for EU member states and Norway. However, Iceland is not allowed to share in this figure and this has angered politicians in Reykjavik.
Now the Norwegian Minister of Fisheries, Ms Helga Pedersen, has encouraged Norwegian buyers of fish meal to boycott Icelandic fishmeal made from mackerel. and has threatened to exclude any Icelandic trawlers from her country's water is they are found to be catching mackerel.
However, attempts to smooth over the row began this week from a number of directions. Fridrik J. Arngrimsson, Managing Director of LIU (The National Association of Icelandic Fishing Operators), has asked Icelandic authorities to intervene. According to Mr Arngrimsson, the Norwegian stand is a violation of various international contracts and agreements.
And Iceland’s minister of Fisheries Steingrímur J. Sigfússon is reported by IcelandReview.com to have contacted Helga Pedersen, saying he doesn't want a public row debated through the media and believes the dispute can be solved by private negotiations.
Until fairly recently, mackerel was not high on Iceland's fish catching priorities. But sea warming has pushed stocks further north and Icelandic trawler owners have taken full advantage of this by catching ever higher amounts.
Should fisheries be closed during breeding time to allow stocks to reach more sustainable levels?
