Scottish fishing port supports Faroe sanctions

A leading Scottish fishing port authority has added its support to sanctions by the E.U. against the Faroe Islands over herring and mackerel overfishing.

John Wallace, chief executive of the Peterhead Port Authority, called the sanctions “robustly thought through” and praised the E.U. for its efforts.

The E.U. issued the sanctions last month in response to increased fishing of both mackerel and herring by the Faroes. While the Faroese alleged the stocks of both fish have migrated en masse into their waters, the E.U. and Norway have argued that the Faroes are fishing well beyond established quotas. The E.U. is considering similar sanctions for similar reasons against Iceland.

“What is galling and offensive about this matter, is that I believe the Faroese traded away some of the pelagic quota they took for other species with Russia, even bringing in outside processors to handle product they themselves could not handle,” Wallace said in his statement. “If this had been built up gradually and responsibly with EU and Norwegian agreement and participation, we would not be where we are today.”

Wallace said he believed the E.U. did not rush to judgment, nor did it rush into levying sanctions.

“These sanctions have been a long time in coming into effect but have not been ‘knee jerk’ and are robustly thought through,” he said. “At the end of the day, this has come down to a behavioral problem and the EU must now do all it can to ensure that Faroe and Iceland’s actions are proportionately dealt with, before normal service and relations can be resumed.”

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