Regin Winther Poulsen

Commercial fish stocks within the Faroese Plateau marine ecosystem are inching back from the brink of disaster. The Faroese Plateau is a shallow-water marine ecosystem that separates the Faroe Islands from the deeper waters of the Faroese Bank. The ecosystem is a crucial habitat for commercially important stocks like cod, haddock, pollock, and saithe, among other species. A few of those stocks – cod and pollock – have reached critically low… Read More

Four Northeast Atlantic coastal parties reached a quota-sharing deal in December 2025 for this year’s mackerel-fishing season in the region: the U.K., Norway, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland, the latter of which has been included on a mackerel quota-sharing deal for the first time. Some within Iceland have hailed the country’s first-ever inclusion in a mackerel-fishing deal as historic and a responsible action that will help ensure… Read More

A district court in Norway has ruled that the country can use its Sanctions Act to ban Russian fishing company Norebo from fishing in its waters. In July 2025, Norwegian authorities announced that Norebo and fellow Russian fishing firm Murman Seafood would be banned from Norwegian harbors and would not have their licenses to fish in Norwegian waters renewed for 2026 due to alleged espionage. In response to the sanctions, Russian authorities… Read More

The Faroe Islands recently released its annual overview of seafood exports for 2025, finding that exports of mackerel, blue whiting, cod, and haddock increased by both volume and value, while salmon exports saw value declines. In total, seafood exports from the Faroe Islands increased 8 percent by value, rising to DKK 13.4 billion (USD 2.1 billion, EUR 1.8 billion) compared to DKK 12.5 billion (USD 2 billion, EUR 1.7 billion) in the same period… Read More

After becoming the first European country to open parts of its ocean to deep-sea mining in late 2024 – a decision that drew criticism from environmental activists and scientists – Norway’s newly elected government has made a deal to postpone any such activity in the near term. Norway’s national election in September 2025 left no party with a majority, and since then, the Labor Party has continued governing the country under minority… Read More

Just before the new year, the Faroe Islands and Russia signed a bilateral fishing agreement for 2026 following several days of virtual negotiations. “I am very satisfied … in these difficult times [we] have managed to make an agreement this year. This means that the Faroese fishing industry knows the conditions they are operating under and that the industry also next year has a good opportunity to utilize … the Barents Sea,” said new… Read More

The Icelandic government has declared the possible collapse of a major Atlantic Ocean current a national security risk. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is an ocean current system that brings warmer waters from the tropics through the Arctic and into the North Atlantic Ocean, as well as colder waters south, which helps to regulate global climate.  Recently, experts have raised the possibility of the AMOC collapsing, which… Read More

The U.K., Norway, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland have reached a deal for the 2026 Northeast Atlantic mackerel fishing season.  Following months of turmoil and uncertainty that included stalled negotiations, infighting, and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) recommending 70 percent cuts to mackerel fishing for 2026, the nations have agreed on a 48 percent year-over-year cut to mackerel quota. The four coastal parties… Read More

The Parliament of the Faroe Islands has passed a bill that would give the territory’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs the authority to sanction Russian fishing companies operating in its waters. The bill paves the way for the Faroese government to specifically place sanctions on Russian fishing firms Murman Seafood and Norebo for allegedly carrying out espionage activity in European waters, following similar actions taken by the E.U., Norway, and… Read More

Following months of deliberation, the Foreign Policy Committee within the Faroe Islands Parliament appears to be nearing the passage of a bill that would authorize sanctions on Russian fishing companies Murman Seafood and Norebo.  Norebo and Murman have allegedly carried out espionage activity for Russia in European waters and have already been sanctioned by the E.U., Norway, and Iceland. The Faroe Islands has been slower in adopting sanctions… Read More