The Finnur I Fridi, a top modern Faroese combined purse seiner and pelagic trawler. (Photo: Hugin blog)

Iceland, Faroes' mackerel quotas threaten Scottish fishery

UNITED KINGDOM
Friday, June 25, 2010, 16:50 (GMT + 9)

The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) is fully backing the Scottish Government’s move to challenge the Faroese application for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) accreditation of its mackerel fishery. The application will be challenged due to its failure to reach a stock management agreement with other participants in the north-east Atlantic mackerel fishery.
 
If the Faroese Government refuses to sign up to a Coastal States agreement for this year because its demands for a bigger share of the mackerel total allowable catch (TAC) have not been met, and subsequent moves to unilaterally enlarge its quota, it will be violating the regulations for its mackerel fishery to become MSC certified.

Iceland may also unilaterally increase its catch allocation for mackerel, and the SFF fears this will dramatically jeopardise the stock’s overall health. Both Iceland and the Faroes are also demanding access to European Union (EU) waters to fish for the species.

“We have real concerns about the lack of a mackerel agreement because this appalling behaviour by Iceland and the Faroese threatens the sustainability of an extremely valuable stock that has been carefully nurtured by the Scottish fleet,” Bertie Armstrong, SFF chief executive, said.

The Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association (SPFA) said both countries’ actions represent a “huge threat” to the viability of the Scottish pelagic sector, reports Fishnewseu.

They said the early-year mackerel fishery went well and because of delay in finalising TACs with Norway, there will be an important autumn 2010 fishery, with 34,700 tonnes of mackerel left to catch.

But Iceland has unilaterally decided to award itself a 130,000-tonne mackerel quota this year, compared with 2009’s already intensely opposed catch of 112,000 tonnes.

Further, Faroe not only refused to sign up for the annual coastal states mackerel agreement for this year, but is also seeking a 22 per cent instead of a 3.7 per cent share of the TAC.

“If Iceland and the Faroe press ahead, it will run a cart and horses through our existing agreements on access to this stock and could destroy the fishery,” warned MEP Struan Stevenson. “It would be completely irresponsible for Iceland and Faroe to extend their catch in this way and would amount virtually to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.”
 
The Scottish Western mackerel fishery is currently certified by the MSC as ostensibly well-managed and responsibly fished.
 
“This potential unilateral action by Iceland and the Faroes for increasing their mackerel TACs will put enormous strain on the stock and we strongly endorse this challenge from the Scottish Government, which we hope will make them see sense,” Ian Gatt, SFF president and chief executive of the SPFA, said.
 
“If there is failure to reach a coastal states agreement because of Faroese intransigence, then because such an agreement is an integral part of MSC accreditation, there is a real danger that we could end up with the ludicrous situation of Scotland losing its prestigious MSC environmental certification despite being at the forefront of implementing measures to ensure the stock is sustainably harvested,” he added.

Related articles:

- In first, MSC certifies Faroese herring fishery
- EU, Norway give quota talks another chance

By Natalia Real
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

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