The European Association of Fish Producer Organizations (EAFPO) on Wednesday urged European Union Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki to take action after the Faeroe Islands set its 2010 mackerel quota at 85,000 metric tons.
The Faeroes’ decision to significantly increase its 2010 mackerel quota is “outrageous,” defies international management arrangements, threatens the health of the North Atlantic mackerel stock and borderlines on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, said the EAFPO in a prepared statement.
The group is also disturbed by Iceland’s decision to considerably increase its 2010 mackerel quota to 130,000 metric tons.
“The EU must be prepared to stand up for and protect [its] pelagic fishermen against this outrageous behavior,” said Gerard van Balsfoort, chair of the EAFPO’s Northern Pelagic Working Group. “We are not prepared to stand idly by what is happening now and we will not accept any mackerel quota reductions, caused by the irresponsible overfishing carried out by both countries.”
The EAFPO is calling on Damanaki to suspend of the 2010 bilateral fisheries agreement between the EU and the Faeroes, ban all EU seafood imports from Faeroes and Iceland, bar all Faeroe and Icelandic fishing vessels from EU ports and the EU’s exclusive economic zone and place Icelandic and Faroese mackerel vessels on the IUU black list.
Last week, the Irish Times reported that Irish Fisheries Minister Seán Connick sent a letter to Damanaki blasting Iceland’s 130,000-metric-ton mackerel quota. “Iceland’s approach is impacting negatively on the stock and has a particularly detrimental impact on EU fishing interests since we are the major shareholder in this fishery,” he wrote.
Rising tensions over mackerel come as Iceland officially kicked off its bid to attain EU membership this week. Fishing is sure to be the most sensitive issue Iceland and the EU face in negotiations.
On Tuesday, Össur Skarphédinsson, Iceland’s foreign affairs minister, reiterated the country’s stance that it continue to manage its fisheries independently.
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