The European pelagic fisheries sector, organised under the banners of EAPO and Europêche, is protesting strongly on Friday 28 May against the Norwegian government’s decision to unilaterally increase Norway’s share of the mackerel fishery by 55%.
The two organisations call on the EU to take immediate action to put an end to this illegal decision.
Norway has decided to increase its mackerel quota in the North East Atlantic from 191,843 to 298,299 tonnes. However, since 2014, the EU, Norway, and the Faroe Islands have managed to agree on a joint sharing and management agreement for this stock. “Unfortunately, Iceland, Russia and Greenland have never been part of this arrangement”, the organisations said in a statement (https://bit.ly/3oZwCLh ).
As of 1 January this year, the UK has left the EU and become a new independent coastal state. “Everybody knew that this would create new uncertainties for all players in the Northeast Atlantic, as the UK had to establish new fisheries relationships with other coastal states, among them Norway”, the two organisations said in a statement.
So far, it has not been possible for the UK to conclude a fisheries agreement for 2021 with its direct neighbours, the Faroe Islands, Norway, and the EU. The UK’s negotiations with the Faroe Islands and Norway are now officially over, without agreement, while negotiations between the UK and the EU are still ongoing (see EUROPE 12728/7). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)