The annual rounds of talks to agree quotas for those fish stocks managed jointly by the European Union and Norway have stalled at the end of what should have been the final session.
They will continue into a fifth round in Bergen next week. The talks are part of a complex web of agreements and arrangements between not just the EU and Norway, but also the Faeroes and others. A successful outcome is of central importance to the Scottish fishing industry and clear difficulties still remain in these complicated negotiations.
Scotland has the major share of mackerel in the North East Atlantic and the annual arrangements between the EU, Norway and the Faeroes are normally made in a one-week meeting. Efforts to date have failed to reach agreement and this is overshadowing the rest of the process, including the setting Total Allowable Catches for cod haddock, whiting and herring in the North Sea.
