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EU Fisheries Commissioner says sanctions to come if no mackerel deal in January.
Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki has said that negotiations for a new mackerel agreement in January are the last chance for Faroes and Iceland to avoid sanctions.
Once again this year, the Faroe Islands and Iceland set their own huge quotas for mackerel outwith any international agreement. Following three rounds of talks to seek a new deal for 2011, further negotiations are scheduled for January. Commissioner Damanaki made her comments to EU ministers at the Fisheries Council in Brussels on Thursday, December 15.
Scottish Fisheries Secretary Richard Lochhead said: "It's welcome news that proposals for sanctions against countries overfishing their quota of shared stocks have finally been published, and I'm pleased Commissioner Damanaki has set out to Faroes and Iceland that there will be consequences if they refuse to negotiate reasonably and reach a new international deal for mackerel fishing.
"Scotland's priority is to have an agreement in place between all parties that will protect the future sustainability of the mackerel stock. However, the power to impose meaningful sanctions against states fishing unsustainably would be a progressive step.
"I hope that Faroes and Iceland take heed of this warning when talks resume, because it is in the interests of all to have a healthy mackerel fishery with our respective industries and fishing communities safeguarded."
Further negotiations between the EU, Norway, Faroe Islands and Iceland will resume next month to try and reach agreement for an international mackerel deal.
In 2011 the Faroe Islands unilaterally set themselves a mackerel catch of 150,000 tonnes, up 75 per cent on 2010 and more than five times their internationally agreed share in 2009. Meanwhile, Iceland, who caught very little mackerel prior to 2008, set their own increased TAC of around 147,000 tonnes earlier this year.
In 2010 mackerel was Scotland's most valuable catch, worth 113 million pounds to the Scottish economy.
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