Letter: Iceland aren't the villains in fish war

Published on Tuesday 28 September 2010 15:05

MR STRUAN Stevenson (Debate, September 12) deliberately brands Icelanders as bullies in what has been labelled as a "mackerel war."

If we stick to bare facts, Iceland caught 112,000 tonnes of mackerel in 2008, followed by 116,000 tonnes in 2009. This year's quota is 130,000 tonnes. It is thus difficult to figure out why Mr Stevenson maintains that Iceland has increased its mackerel quota by 6,500 per cent.

Mr Stevenson stresses the need to bring Iceland and the Faroes "back to the negotiating table". It is pivotal to underline that Iceland was excluded from the negotiations on the TAC for mackerel in 2010.

As Iceland was not admitted to negotiations for the mackerel fishery of 2010, Iceland set itself a unilateral quota of 130,000 tonnes; this was done prior to the completion of negotiations and decisions by other parties so that they could take responsible account of Iceland's quota. Norway and the EU reacted by allotting themselves all the recommended mackerel catch for 2010.

Norway and the EU have seriously undermined the credibility of their own management scheme by unlawfully blocking the participation of Iceland in mackerel negotiations.

Fridrik J Arngrimsson, CEO, Federation of Icelandic Fishing Vessel Owners