Norway and the Faroe Islands have drawn fire from European fishing industry bodies for unilaterally setting new mackerel quotas equivalent to almost 55 percent of the agreed total allowable catch (TAC) of 794,920 metric tons (MT) for the Northeast Atlantic.
The European Association of Fish Producers Organisations (EAPO) and the Association of National Organisations of Fishing Enterprises in the E.U. (Europêche) are calling for the European Union to take action against the two coastal states and are urging the European Commission and European Council to make use of instruments at their disposal such as trade measures.
With Norway’s unilaterally set quota equivalent to 35 percent of the total scientific advice, and the Faroes’ quota corresponding to 19.6 percent, EAPO and Europêche say the two coastal states are continuing to fish at “the same irresponsible, unrealistically inflated levels” as they did in the past year, when both countries increased their shares by 55 percent, while responsible E.U. businesses are at risk of being disadvantaged for doing the right thing.
The industry groups said the basis for Norway’s decision – the zonal attachment approach – was in this case recently judged by scientists from all involved coastal states as highly flawed, since the data on geographic distribution is incomplete and gives room for multiple interpretations. Consequently, they said they expect the total mackerel catch for the new season to be well above the scientific advice.
“This overfishing remains entirely unjustified and at odds with the sensible and sustainable fisheries management that the world supports and demands. It puts unacceptable pressure on a stock that is of great importance for many European fishing nations,” EAPO and Europêche organized E.U. pelagic fishing industry chair Tim Heddema said.
Heddema appealed to Norway and the Faroe Islands to work in partnership for the benefit of all, but said since that is unlikely, strong action was now needed from the E.U.
“The solution is not to sit back and leave it to the E.U. to compensate for the recklessness of others by fishing less ourselves, which in turn is further disadvantaging the E.U. industry’s market position,” he said. “Instead, the E.U. has plenty of options available to counteract and deter this unacceptable behavior, such as – but not limited to – using its power as the main market for the other coastal states’ seafood exports.”
With regards to further negotiations on catch-share arrangements, Heddema said he wants the E.U. to make it “100 percent clear that it will not accept the current overfishing to count towards an increased fishing track record for those parties concerned.”
Norway’s 278,222 MT mackerel quota for this year represents a 7 percent reduction on last year’s allocation, with the country’s Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Affairs explaining the quota is based on assessments of the mackerel’s real zone affiliation to the waters under Norwegian jurisdiction, and that more fish now in the area compared with 2014 when the previous mackerel agreement was made.
The Faroes new quota is 155,804 MT.
Photo courtesy of Europêche
