Thursday, 25th November 2010
‘Vikings’ must join mackerel deal
Conservative MEP Struan Stevenson has called on Iceland and the Faroe Islands to join a workable agreement with the EU and Norway to end the so-called ‘mackerel war’.
Mr Stevenson has earlier labelled the North Atlantic nations ‘Viking raiders’, after they set huge unilateral quotas for 2010 far in excess of their usual catches.
Speaking ahead of a third round of talks aiming to settle the dispute, Struan Stevenson MEP, Senior Vice President of the European Parliament's Fisheries Committee, said:
"The first two rounds of talks with Iceland and the Faroes stalled. Both are demanding a massive share of the mackerel catch, claiming the stock is now spending as much time in their waters as in those of the EU and Norway.
"However, mackerel is a highly migratory stock. It moves annually from the Bay of Biscay right up past Scotland towards Norway, the Faroes and, more recently, Iceland.
“Iceland claims this is due to climate change, but the stock could just as easily revert to its original pattern next year. The point is, setting enormous unilateral quotas is no way to fish a finite stock sustainably – there must be international agreement.
“Iceland has traditionally not fished mackerel in any quantity. In 2005, its mackerel catch was just 363 tonnes. But by 2008, this figure had rocketed to 112,353 tonnes – up an exponential 30,000%.
“Over the same period, the EU’s mackerel catch fell 20%, to 208,355 tonnes, while Norway’s catch rose 1.5% to 121,495 tonnes.
“This year, Iceland have caught 130,000 tons and say they could have caught even more if they'd wanted.
"But this kind of arbitrary ‘smash and grab’ arrangement, in defiance of all international agreements, can only eventually lead to the destruction of the entire stock and disaster for all our fishermen.
"I appeal to the Faroes and Iceland to see sense and come to a reasonable and sensible agreement that benefits everyone. There can be no room for a selfish, arbitrary approach any longer."
