Brussels, 29/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - The mackerel war is far from over. At the Fisheries Council in Luxembourg on Tuesday 28 June, the Irish delegation called on the EU to impose trade sanctions on Iceland which this year again has granted itself a very substantial mackerel quota in the North-East Atlantic, without any prior agreement with the coastal states. Most of the countries affected supported the Irish request. Only Sweden and Spain tried to calm their colleagues' ire, pointing out that nothing should be done to hinder Iceland's accession negotiations, the fisheries chapter of which has not yet been opened, and that other interests were at stake.
Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki said that member states were in total agreement in judging the attitude of Iceland and the Faroe Islands to be “reckless”. The EU cannot just do nothing, she said, indicating that she would prefer the matter to be settled through negotiation. “We want an agreement, but not at any price”, she added, indicating that the Commission was currently preparing the necessary legal instruments for stronger action. Options are quite limited at this point and only relate to fresh produce. The majority of landings are of meal or other processed goods. The Commission is exploring other possible options.
Negotiations on mackerel quotas between the EU and Norway on the one side and Iceland and the Faroe Islands on the other began in November of last year but so far agreement has proved out of reach. Having previously fished around 2,000 tonnes of mackerel annually, Iceland suddenly raised its quota to 130,000 tonnes in 2010. At the start of 2011, Iceland decided unilaterally to take a quota of 146,000 tonnes of mackerel for the year. The Faroe Islands allocated itself a quota three times higher - 85,000 tonnes, or two tonnes of mackerel for every man woman, and child on the islands - than provided for in agreements between Norway, the Faroe Islands and the European Union, signed in 1999. The EU deems these levels to be unacceptable and announced in January that it intended to close its ports to mackerel fished by Icelandic vessels. (L.C./transl.rt)