ICELAND'S trawler owners may soon find themselves on a collision course with their own government over plans to reform the industry.
The coalition government is about to submit a bill amending the law on fishing management. The details are being kept a close secret, but the objective is to break up the existing quota priority scheme which has been running successfully for many years and change it to a closed system. The government also says it wants to increase employment opportunities for those working in the industry.
Politicians hope to net a large amount of extra income by altering the system, but it is almost certain to meet with opposition from main body of the industry. The proposals when published will probably go to a parliamentary committee for refinement before being discussed by the full parliament.
Fishing has been one of the few activities which has survived the Icelandic banking collapse relatively unscathed. While there have been job losses, earnings from both catching and fish processing have risen during the past two years - and so has the tax revenue to the government.
Members of the Icelandic Fishing Vessel Owners Association (LIU) are angry because the government has not shared its ideas with the people who run the industry. To date only a small group of mainly Social Democrat MPs have been let in on what is happening, although there have been some leaks to the press.
However, the current government is not on firm ground politically at the moment and the hope in the industry is that it will fall, forcing a general election and a change of policy on fishing.
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