TRAWLERS flying the Danish flag and fishing off Canada's East Coast were told yesterday they cannot land their catches at any Canadian ports.
The ban, which will mainly affect vessels from Greenland and the Faroe Islands which are Danish protectorates for foreign policy purposes, is the latest move in a growing and long running territorial dispute between the two countries over the sovereignty of the tiny and uninhabited Hans Island which lies between Greenland and the Nunavut province of Canada heated up considerably this week.
Last week Fishupdate reported that the Canadian Fisheries Minister Gail Shea had banned Danish fishing boats from the area and warned that if they continued to violate quotas for prawn (shrimp) catches they would be banned from landing in Canada. The Minister has now carried out that threat, saying the action would both protect the interests of Canadian fishermen and protect shrimp stocks.
She said yesterday: "We have acted in good faith for several years to try to resolve this issue, to no avail.It has become clear to Canada that attempts to come to a multilateral agreement regarding the 3L shrimp quota for Denmark (in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland) are at an impasse."
However, she has invited Denmark to come back to the negotiating table, saying the Canada was willing to try to find a solution. Meanwhile, Denmark said that its fishing activities in that region fully comply with international law, adding that its efforts amount to little more than one per cent of the total catch allocation in that area.
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