The EU and Norway are in dispute with Iceland and the Faroe Islands over fishing rights in the North Atlantic. At the Council’s January meeting on 26 January, the Nordic Council’s Environment Committee strongly urges the parties to come to the negotiating table and find a solution that will ensure sustainable exploitation of mackerel stocks – fisheries which have an annual turnover of billions.
There is competition for the fish in the North Atlantic. Lack of co-operation between the EU and Norway on the one hand, and Iceland and the Faroe Islands on the other hand, is likely to lead to overfishing to the detriment of the fish stocks.
The parties are fighting over mackerel quota in the North Atlantic. The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) recommends a mackerel quota in these waters of 646,000 tons for 2011.
The EU and Norway have made an agreement to fish no more than 580,000 tons. After that, Iceland announced that they will catch 147,000 tons. The Faroese have not announced their quota for 2011, but in 2010 it was 85,000 tons.
There are large sums of money involved. Mackerel fishing alone accounts for DKK 10 billion every year.
“We must protect the natural resources for the future and also ensure that international agreements are respected. Therefore, we, as Nordic MPs, strongly urge the parties in the mackerel conflict to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible”, says Ann Kristine Johansson, Chair of the Nordic Council’s Environmental Committee.
A statement from the Council will now be sent to all the Nordic governments, the European Parliament, the EU Commission and others.
As a result of climate change, an increasingly large proportion of the stock is moving up to the waters around Iceland and the Faroes.
A North Atlantic fisheries conference that was held by the Nordic Council of Ministers in September 2010, led, amongst other things, to a proposal to revise agreements on fisheries.
All the countries involved have signed the UN Fisheries Agreement, which places them under an obligation to co-operate to ensure sustainable fisheries.
The Nordic Council’s Committee for the Environment and Natural Resources now urges the parties to respect this obligation and to start real negotiations on the future of fisheries in the North Atlantic.
Statement from the Nordic Council Environment Committee and the Council’s meeting on 26 January on mackerel fishing in the North Atlantic
The Nordic Council’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee strongly urges the parties in the current mackerel conflict to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible with the aim of reaching agreement on harvesting mackerel resources at a sustainable level.
All historic experience shows that harvesting natural resources without agreement, and without basis in sustainability of the resource, is detrimental to all parties, as well as for the future of fisheries in general and certain species in particular.
Based on historic catch data, the spread of mackerel stocks, new migration patterns and its importance for coastal states, it ought to be possible to reach agreement on quotas which will secure the future for mackerel stocks and fishing fleets.
The committee urges the Nordic governments and the Nordic Council of Ministers to strive to develop and improve the scientific basis for the spread of mackerel stocks, and thus improve the conditions for negotiations on the distribution of catches in the individual countries.
