Science not sanctions must be used to end an international mackerel dispute which threatens to engulf Grimsby's fish processors, risking supplies and jobs, town representatives heard.
Key industry figures from the vital cluster welcomed a briefing from Iceland on the importance of reaching an amicable solution to the escalating dispute between Europe and the town's principal fish trading ally.
The EU is under pressure from Scottish fishermen and their Norwegian counterparts to bring in trade restrictions against Iceland as the countries are unable to agree on a management program for North Atlantic mackerel, as reported by the Telegraph last month.
The dispute centers on the vast quantities now in Icelandic waters, and being caught there. Talks on quotas broke down again last month, and now the possibility of interrupting trade links with the seafood-reliant nation has been raised, though the legality of it would be tested in what would likely be a long-drawn out legislative process.
The issue threatens to split the UK seafood industry, with processors in Grimsby desperate to avoid such a course of action, while the catching sector in Scotland wants the full support of EU legislators.
Such is the division Iceland used northern Lincolnshire as a platform to voice its position during a two-day trade fostering visit last week, with science behind the stance, together with concessions offered, laid out. But the defense against any sanctions was clear.
