NEW moves are being made to head off the possibility of another mackerel dispute involving Iceland.
Last week the main mackerel fishing countries, headed by the European Union and Norway meeting in Edinburgh failed to reach agreement on a multination quota for next year. The current impasse is also of importance to Shetland fishermen because it could eventually affect other quotas, notably for cod and haddock.
Now, in the hope of avoiding trouble, Iceland's fisheries minister Jon Bjarnason has officially accepted an invitation sent to him from the European Union, the Faroe Islands and Norway asking his country to participate in North East Atlantic mackerel quota setting in March. This is the first time Iceland has been asked to attend.
A statement from the Ministry of Fisheries says that all four administrations are agreed that the mackerel stocks should be harnessed sustainably and agree on the importance of a united policy to maintain stocks. The news comes shortly after the Icelandic minister gave his approval for a unilateral 130,000 tonne mackerel quota in 2010.
According to Icenews, Iceland has been lobbying hard for a place at the table for several years; but repeated refusal by the other three parties led to the country issuing its own mackerel quota; and some argue that too-high quotas have been deliberately set to force the EU, Faroes and Norway’s hand.
The problem arises because mackerel are relatively new to Icelandic waters and no tradition of commercial mackerel operations existed before Icelandic vessels first began fishing for mackerel two years ago.
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