Norwegian longliners with a long track record of fishing for tusk and ling around the Shetland Islands have been allocated cod and haddock quotas to make up for the loss of their traditional fishery, as no agreement on fisheries has been reached between Norway and the UK for this year.
Minister of Fisheries and Seafood Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen has decided to set aside 6250 tonnes of cod and 3000 tonnes of haddock from Norway’s ‘third country’ quota to compensate this sector of the Norwegian fleet that has been particularly affected by Brexit.
‘Following a thorough assessment, I have concluded that this fleet sector is particularly affected, having gone from a stable situation that has been in place for a very long time, to losing both access and quotas overnight,’ Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen said.
‘I would like to emphasise that there are many vessel groups that are affected by Brexit, which do not get exchange quotas or access to the UK zone, and for which is is not applicable to provide compensation. I hope that we will also in the future enter into agreements with the UK that include quota exchanges.’
Fishing for ling, tusk and other species had been part of the quota agreement with the EU, under which Norway provided cod quotas in the Barents Sea to the EU in exchange for fishing opportunities for Norwegian operators in EU waters.
This was done to continue fishing access to those who had traditionally fished in Norwegian or EU waters prior to the establishment of EEZs.
The traditional fishing grounds for ling and tusk are now in British waters and no quota agreement was reached with the United Kingdom for 2021, ending this fleet sector’s access to these fisheries.
