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 compared to its Northeast Atlantic neighbors, but now, after several delays, the majority of the Foreign Policy Committee, represented by the government’s ruling party and one opposition party, has expressed support for the bill, meaning it is likely to pass once it is officially put forth.
If adopted, sanctions would not take effect until 1 January, when the Faroes’ current bilateral agreement with Russia needs to be extended.
Representatives from the two largest Faroese opposition parties have expressed their disapproval of the bill, arguing that there is insufficient evidence to support the accusations against the two companies.
One such representative is Jacob Vestergaard of the Faroese conservative party, who has served as the territory’s minister of fisheries on three separate occasions.
He pointed out that fish products from the Faroe Islands have been boycotted by the E.U. and Norway in the past and that they have not been “allies” when it comes to fisheries agreements. On the other hand, he called Russia, with which the Faroe Islands has had a fishing agreement since 1977, a "faithful partner."
The Faroese fishing industry has also expressed concerns that possible sanctions could affect Faroese exports of pelagic fish to the Russian market and that Faroese ships could lose access to the Barents Sea.
The bilateral agreement between Russia and the Faroe Islands gives the Faroe Islands access to cod and a few other species in the Barents Sea in return for granting Russian access to such species as blue whiting in Faroese waters.
“I'm quite afraid. They've said publicly that we won't be able to export fish to Russia, but I don't know what will happen to the fishing agreement," Hanus Hansen, the CEO of fishing firm JFK, which fishes cod in the Barents Sea, told Faroese public broadcaster KVF.
Earlier this month, Russian government-run media outlet RIA Novosti said the Faroe Islands has been made aware of possible retaliatory measures should it institute sanctions, such as closed access to Russian waters and market access for Faroese products, which would confirm Faroese industry fears.
Similarly, Russia’s Federal Fisheries Agency (Rosrybolovstvo) has threatened to carry out plans to completely ban Norwegian fishing vessels from its exclusive economic zone and withdraw from cooperative fisheries management over Norway’s decision to ban the two fishing companies.
