Iceland and the Faroe Islands have agreed on reciprocal fishing opportunities for 2022 that are on the same lines as the terms of their 2021 agreement, under which the Faroes fleet has pelagic and demersal opportunities in Icelandic waters, while some fishing opportunities are available to Icelands’ pelagic fleet in Faroese waters.
The Faroese fleet gets 5600 tonnes of groundfish in Icelandic waters, of which up to 2400 tonnes is cod and 400 tonnes is tusk. The Faroe Islands hold 5% of the capelin quota split with Iceland, Greenland and Norway, but not exceeding 30,000 tonnes.
Iceland and the Faroes have agreed reciprocal access to bleu whiting and Atlanto-Scandian herring as before, plus the Icelandic fleet gets 1300 tonnes of mackerel from the Faroes.
‘The fisheries agreement between Iceland and the Faroes is important for both partners and I am pleased that we have reached an agreement that promotes ongoing interaction,‘ said Faroese Minister of Fisheries Jacob Vestergaard.
Under an agreement signed between Norway and the Faroe Islands, the Norwegian fleet gets a 500 tonne increase to its ling/blue ling quota to 3000 tonnes, while the tusk quota is reduced by 500 tonnes to 1500 tonnes. An 800 tonne by-catch quota and a 6600 tonne mackerel quota are rolled over from 2021.
‘Norwegian fishermen have long traditions of fishing in Faroese waters, and the agreement with the Faroe Islands is important to us. It is good that we have been able to reach an agreement that continues these fishing opportunities in 2022,’ said Norway’s Minister of Fisheries Bjørnar Skjæran.
The Faroese fleet gets 4945 tonnes of cod, 1100 tonnes of haddock, 500 tonnes of saithe and 400 tonnes of other species as by-catch in the Norwegian zone, which is a continuation of the current year’s quota level. In addition to this, Faroese vessels can take up to 3790 tonnes of cod and 200 tonnes of haddock through their swap agreement with Russia.
Norwegian vessels can fish up to 31,920 tonnes of the Norwegian blue whiting quota for 2022 in Faroese waters.
