Brussels, 29/08/2013 (Agence Europe) - There has been a new development in the herring war between the EU and the Faroe Isles with the entry into force, on Thursday 29 August, of sanctions adopted by the European Commission on 20 August (see EUROPE 10903).
Commission Regulation 793/2013 of 20 August 2013, which sets out measures for the Faroe Isles to ensure the conservation of Atlanto-Scandian herring stocks, provides for: - (a) the prohibition of imports of herring and mackerel from the Atlanto-Scandian stocks as well as of fishery products containing or made of such fish, and (b) restrictions on the use of Union ports by vessels fishing for the Atlanto-Scandian herring and mackerel stocks under the control of the Faroe Islands and by vessels transporting fish or fisheries products stemming from that fishery.
The largest herring stock worldwide.
The stock of Atlanto-Scandian herring (also referred to as Norwegian spring-spawning herring) is the largest herring stock of the world. Since the recovery of the stock and the re-opening of the fishery in 1996, following consultations among the five parties whose economic exclusive zone (EEZ) is visited by this fish during its migration cycle, the Atlanto-Scandian herring stock has been managed.
Since 2007, the arrangements agreed included rules on the sharing of the total allowable catch (TAC). Shares agreed for the stock of Atlanto-Scandian herring were fixed as follows: 5.16% for the Faroe Islands, 14.51% for Iceland, 6.51% for the Union, 61% for Norway, and 12.82% for Russia.
This long-term management plan aims to prevent the stock falling below the biomass level of 2,500,000 tonnes and to do everything possible to keep it above 5,000,000, the level believed to produce maximum sustainable yield (MSY). This must be done by restricting harvesting in a manner consistent with a fishing mortality of 0.125. It has been agreed that, if the biomass level falls below the level of 5,000,000 tonnes, the fishing mortality should be reduced in order to ensure rapid recovery of the stock.
In September 2012, the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) recommended that the TAC for the five coastal states should be no more than 619,000 tonnes in 2013, which represents a decrease of 26% compared to the TAC fixed for 2012. In the course of coastal state consultations organised between October 2012 and January 2013 with a view to negotiating agreements for 2013, the representatives of the Faroe Islands consistently and repeatedly stated their refusal to continue the current sharing arrangement. The arrangements for 2013 were finally concluded on 18 January 2013, by only four coastal states.
Given that it was impossible to reach a five-way agreement due to the Faroe Islands' withdrawal from the consultations, it was agreed aming the other four parties that account would be taken of the fishery interests of the Faroe Islands by setting aside their traditional share, i.e. the share that the Faroe Islands have held since the 2007 agreement, corresponding to 31,000 tonnes (5.16% of the TAC).
Faroe Islands' share is up 145%
The fisheries minister of the Faroe Islands announced on 26 March 2013 that a catch limit of 105,230 tonnes had been set unilaterally for the Faroese fleet, which represents 17% of the recommended TAC or more than three times the share that would correspond to the previously agreed arrangements and an increase of 145% of their share in 2012. “That unilateral announcement is to be assessed in the light of the above-mentioned scientific advice to reduce catches in 2013 by 26%. With that announcement, the Faroe Islands also de facto abandoned the jointly agreed management plan”, the Commission explains.
If the catch limits set out by the four coastal states and the Faroe Islands were reached, the total catch would amount to 492,290 tonnes, which would constitute overfishing compared to the recommended TAC. According to the assessments and catch forecasts made by ICES when delivering advice for the management of the 2013 fishing season, such a catch volume would take the spawning stock biomass (SSB) at the beginning of 2014 to a level of 4,200,000 tonnes, well below the level of 5,000,000 that is expected to produce MSY. Hence the measures taken by the EU to put sanctions in place against the Faroe Islands in order to ensure long term conservation of Atlanto-Scandian herring stocks. (LC/transl/jl)