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Einar K. Gudfinnsson |
THE Icelandic Fisheries Minister Einar K. Gudfinnsson has surprised his country's fishing industry by postponing an announcement on the new cod quotas for the coming year.
A declaration was expected yesterday or even today, but it could now be at least another fortnight before Iceland's trawler owners and fishermen know the extent of the cuts.
Last month, the Marine Research Institute recommended a drastic reduction in the cod fishing effort, down by 63,000 tonnes to 130,000 tonnes in the next fishing season, which it says in the only sensible figure if the cod stock is to be saved for future generations. Such drastic action, hiowever, is thought to be unlikely.
But the Minister says he takes the warnings very seriously and will most likely issue considerably reduced quotas, if not as severe as the Marine Research Institute suggests.
Mr Gudfinnsson has also promised that measures would be taken to help those communities - mainly isolated fishing towns - worst hit by the impact of any cuts.
The sale of cod quotas in Iceland and their economic effect on towns where local employment is concentrated in one or two fish factories has become a big political issue in Iceland recently.
A decree was expected at a meeting of the government yesterday. The ministers of the Social Democratic Alliance, one of the coalition partners, showed up late to the meeting, apparently because they were tied up at another meeting where the quotas were debated.
However, no announcement was made, which indicates how controversial the issue is within the government. According to RÚV national radio, the decision on the quotas will be announced by the end of the week. But the news website Eyjan.is quoted the minister as saying that he would not issue the decree before July 15.
Last week the authoritative Icelandic Bank Glitnir, which specialises in fishing issues, predicted a 20 per cent reduction in the quota to around 150,000 tonnes for the 12 months period from September to the end of August 2008. A few weeks earlier it thought the cut might be less severe, with the annual quota totalling around 60,000 tonnes.The Bank bases its new forecast on a report by the Institute of Economic Studies on the state of fishing stocks and the reaction of Icelandic fishing authorities.
The figure will be eagerly awaited by fish processors in the UK, mainly in Scotland and on the Humber which depends on Icelandic fish supplies. Cod prices in Britain have risen steadily in the past year and any further quotas cuts are almost certain to put more pressure on prices. In addition quota in the Baltic Sea - another source of cod for UK processors - is also likely to face a reduction this year.
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