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THE European Union has conceded that tough talks lie ahead to bring Iceland and the Faroe Islands into line over mackerel fishing.
These two 'rebel' states are currently on collision course with the EU block and Norway, which is not a member, because they have unilaterally set themselves large mackerel quotas.
At the recent EU Fishing Ministerial Summit in Luxembourg, the Irish delegation raised the issue and warned that the current management of mackerel could be endangered by the high quotas set by Iceland for 2010 (130,000 tons) and the Faroes (14,000 tons interim, the full quota to be announced later) - a warning which received the backing of the EU countries sharing the mackerel stock. Prior to this very minor catches were recorded by both countries.The Commission promised it would stand firm against both Iceland and the Faroes. In the absence of a coastal states agreement the EU and Norway brokered a 10 year deal in January. as they had the main share of the stock they agreed on an overall total allowable catch of 572,000, which was based on scientific advice from ICES.
Although a series of meetings with Iceland and the Faroes had taken place - the most recent in London just over a moth ago - Iceland stood firm and said they wanted a "substantial share"of that 572,000 ton TAC. The Faroes declined to state their final intention.
The Irish delegation in Luxembourg commended the Commission on their efforts to bring about an acceptable resolution in what it described as "very demanding and fraught circumstance". The challenge is formulating a unified approach with Norway and working with Iceland and the Faroes to encourage them to engage in realistic and pragmatic discussions could not be underestimated, the Irish added.
Two weeks ago fishing environmentalist Charles Clover, and author of a hard hitting book "The End of the Line" warned that while there may seem to be plenty of mackerel in the northern hemisphere it didn't take a degree in mathematics to work out that if countries took substantially more than the internationally agreed 571,000 ton quota, stock would be put at risk. He adds that Scottish fishermen were right to be concerned.
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