Norwegian fishermen are calling for compensation from Iceland because they say their vessels have been unable to fish for their full capelin quota in Icelandic waters.
The two countries have certain quota swap deals at various times of the year with Iceland granted a cod allocation in Norwegian waters.
Now the Norwegian Fishing Vessel Owners Federation has sent a letter to its Ministry of Fisheries that is catch quota is way short of what it should be this year and says that a large share of the responsibility for this rests with Iceland because they have not been able to catch the quota that has been allocated to them.
Some of the friction is due to the stand off between the two countries over mackerel, but fishing relations between the two countries seem to be deteriorating. At Fiskebat’s annual meeting recently some members said Norway should break off talks with Iceland altogether.
The Federation, known in Norway as Fiskebat (Fishing Boat) says the Norwegian authorities should claim compensation from Iceland for these missed opportunities. There are also suggestion that the quota swap deals should be brought to an end.
Meanwhile, as talks began in Edinburgh today to try to settle the mackerel dispute, which also involves the EU and the Faroe Islands, Audun Marak, the director of the Norwegian Fishing Vessel Owners Federation, said he was pessimistic about achieving an agreement. Mr Marak is part of the Norwegian negotiating delegation and he said: “It is hard to see how a mackerel deal will fall into place.
There is still disagreement about how the quotas should be allocated and both Iceland and the Faroe Islands are demanding much more than international guidelines recommend.” The issue was becoming even more complicated because now Greenland is demanding that its quota should be raised from 60,000 tons to 100,000 tons a year.
2014 Special Publications -part of Wyvex Media Limited