Asmundur Johannsson, a fisherman from Sandgerdi in southwest Iceland, said that the present fishing quota system is biggest crime in Iceland’s history. He protests by fishing lately without fishing quota. It is said that Johannsson sailed into the Sandgerdi harbour yesterday with almost 800 kilos of cod, police were waiting for him at the pier. He told that the police just asked him what his name was, asked for his social security number and how much he had caught.
Even MP for the Liberal Party Gretar Mar Jonsson was also waiting for Johannsson on the pier and helped the fisherman unload his catch. It is informed that the police have interfered with Johannsson’s fishing trips, questioned him and charged him for violating quota regulations, but the fisherman has not yet been arrested. Johannsson said that a Coast Guard airplane flew over the ocean where he was fishing just to catch him and prevent him from fishing.
As Johannsson began fishing without quota in early July in protest of the system, he has caught about four tons. He told that he was going fishing by himself and without quota again. Early this year the United Nations Human Rights Committee determined that Iceland’s fishing quota system is unfair and recommended the government to establish a fisheries control system that abide the international law.
