The deadlock over mackerel in the North Atlantic is back in the news. This time, Simon Coveney, Ireland’s minister of agriculture, fisheries and food, is calling for trade sanctions on seafood from Iceland and the Faeroe Islands.
The two countries’ 2011 mackerel quotas collectively total more than 300,000 metric tons, which Coveney deemed “irresponsible, damaging and completely unsustainable.”
The deadlock has the European Union and Norway pitted against Iceland and the Faeroes, which set their mackerel quotas far higher than catches in previous years after mackerel stocks increased significantly. But the EU and Norway argue that Iceland and the Faeroes defied the coastal states management plan for mackerel by setting their quotas too high. Numerous rounds of negotiations have failed to reach an agreement.
“Let us be clear, if there is not a resolution to this situation, serious damage will be done to the mackerel stock in EU waters, resulting in potentially dramatic reduction of quotas to Irish vessels and to the supply of mackerel to Irish fish factories,” said Coveney on Monday. “This outcome is totally unacceptable as EU/Norwegian fishing policy has resulted in gradually building up the mackerel stock, which now faces destruction from irresponsible fishing by Iceland and Faeroes. These two countries, outside the EU, are totally ignoring the responsible management of the stock and if left unchecked, the current behavior will do economic damage with loss of jobs in the northwest and southwest of Ireland.”
Coveney said he plans to meet the Scottish and English fisheries ministers, Richard Lochhead and Richard Benyon, bilaterally to discuss the situation.
Lochhead is also calling for trade sanctions against Iceland and the Faeroes. “I have been pressing the European Commission to apply sanctions since last summer, but the onset of the mackerel fishing season means there is now an urgent need to apply these measures without delay,” he said on Monday. “These sanctions need to happen alongside continuation of talks to put in place a new international agreement for the mackerel stock. However, an agreement cannot come at any cost and we will not give in to the bullying behavior of Iceland and the Faeroes.”
In January, European Commission opted to block mackerel landings from Icelandic vessels in EU ports, but the move has had minimal impact on Iceland’s mackerel fishery.
