In a bid to discourage dumping of fish when boats do not have a quota, new commercial fishing regulations in Norway will require all boats, regardless of nationality, to take their catch to port.
"I want a requirement that all fish caught in Norwegian waters, also by foreign vessels, must be taken to port, regardless of which final port is used. We will introduce new requirements, for instance, as a condition for obtaining licenses to fish, that vessels wishing to fish in Norwegian waters cannot discard valuable fish caught here," says Helga Pederson, fisheries minister. "Moreover, in connection with the annual quota negotiations between the EU and Norway this autumn, we will demand further binding measures to reduce the discard of all joint stocks."
The decision to tighten fishing rules comes after a recent incident in which two British trawlers were caught dumping their catch in Norwegian territory because they had no quota and could not return to port in the United Kingdom.
