Scots fleets won't be held to ransom, insists Salmond

THE Faroese foreign minister has called on First Minister Alex Salmond to personally intervene in the "Mackerel War" as the fishing dispute between the two neighbouring seafaring nations threatened to escalate into a major diplomatic row.

• A Royal Navy frigate and the Icelandic gunboat Thor collide during the Cold Wars in the mid-1970s - the incident led to Iceland breaking off diplomatic ties with Britain

Jrgen Niclasen sent a letter to Mr Salmond as a Faroese pelagic trawler was forced to return to the islands after Scottish fishermen successfully blocked the skipper's attempt to land his lucrative catch at Peterhead.

It is understood the Faroese skipper, Emil Pederson, will have little choice but to sell his mackerel for fish meal at a fraction of its 400,000 value once he docks in Reykjavik, Iceland.

The blockade - the second to be mounted by Scottish fishermen to prevent Faroese mackerel landings at Peterhead - has fuelled concerns of a Cod War-style conflict between the European and Norwegian fleets and the pelagic fleets of both Norway and the Faroe Islands.

The row has been sparked by the decision of both the Faroese and Icelandic governments to set autonomous quotas for mackerel landings by their own fleets, setting new limits which contravene scientific advice.

At the end of July, the Faroe Islands set a quota for mackerel of 85,000 tonnes for this year, which is 15 per cent of the recommended global total allowable catch and far in excess of their previous four per cent share. It followed a decision by Iceland to declare an autonomous quota of 130,000 tonnes.

Norway has already imposed a ban on mackerel landings from both the Faroes and Iceland. But Scottish fishermen are becoming increasingly frustrated at the failure of the European Union to follow Norway's lead.

Yesterday, as Mr Salmond discussed the growing row with Norwegian government officials during his visit to Norway, Mr Niclasen sent a letter to the First Minister, with an urgent request for the Scottish Government to take "all appropriate steps" to stop blockades of Faroese mackerel landing into Scotland.

In his letter Mr Niclasen states: "As you know, the Faroes and Scotland have long enjoyed excellent relations as nearest neighbours, with an active and mutually beneficial co-operation in particular fisheries and trade in fisheries products.

"I therefore expect that private actions which can have such a negative impact on our otherwise excellent trade relations with Scotland, as is the case with this current incident at Peterhead, will not be tolerated by the Scottish authorities."

Speaking yesterday, the minister claimed: "We want to negotiate a sustainable use of the mackerel. What happened this year is that Norway and the European Union stopped the negotiations for this year and didn't want to negotiate any more. So Norway took their own quota and the European Union took their own quota on the mackerel."

He continued: "Here in the Faroe Islands we are depending on fisheries. There is no law that says that we are not allowed to land in Scotland. The good relations we have had must continue. But if we can't do that there are a lot of other possibilities."

Mr Salmond, however, accused both the Faroese and Icelandic governments of acting irresponsibly and said: "We will not allow the anarchic actions of Iceland and Faroes to hold all the rest of us to ransom."

Speaking after talks on the dispute with Norway's foreign minister, Jonas Gahr Stre, the First Minister said: "Scotland and Norway share many fisheries interests, a number of North Sea stocks are jointly managed and shared through the annual EU/Norway fisheries bi-laterals.

"And we are in complete agreement that the governments of the Faroe Islands and Iceland have acted irresponsibly and are threatening global mackerel stocks.

"The EU and Norway are strongly aligned on this issue having committed to a ten-year deal on mackerel management and shares in January 2010.

"This partnership will be absolutely vital in tackling Iceland and the Faroes in an effective manner that sends out a strong message to others that while responsible and innovative fisheries practices will be rewarded, those who don't take conservation seriously will be dealt with in an appropriate manner.

"Because of the considerable sacrifices made by Scotland's fishermen and other EU member states on the conservation front, including Norway, mackerel is now one of the most sustainable fisheries. However, Iceland and the Faroes are running the very real risk of making a mockery of our efforts and must be called to task. This is of great concern to both the Scottish and Norwegian industry and authorities."

Mr Salmond warned: "The dispute could have huge consequences for the Scottish fishing industry if it results in damage to the stock or a substantial reduction in shares."

He pointed out that Maria Damanaki, the European Fisheries Commissioner, had already taken the "unusual step" of publicly denouncing the "damaging" actions of the two governments and that she had written to the Enlargement Commissioner, requesting that the issue be kept at the forefront of the Icelandic EU accession negotiations.

Scottish fisheries secretary Richard Lochhead joined in the attack. He said: "The anger and concern of Scottish fishermen over the irresponsible actions of the Faroe Islands is shared by many and I am doing all I can to ensure a resolution to this serious situation that is fair for the Scottish industry."

Lisbeth Berg-Hansen, the Norwegian minister of fisheries and coastal affairs, said: "The irresponsible fishing for mackerel which Iceland and the Faroe Islands have initiated as an attempt to secure future quota shares is a serious threat to the mackerel stock, and undermines the co-operation to secure the necessary conservation measures."

Background

HMS Diomede was rammed by the Icelandic gunboat Thor

The first Cod War between the UK and Iceland flared in 1958, when Iceland imposed a 12-mile limit around its coastline. The conflict pitted seven Icelandic patrol boats against the might of the British Navy before an uneasy peace was restored.

Fourteen years later the second Cod War erupted, when Iceland brought a 50-mile limit into force.

During the conflict, the Icelandic coastguard used net cutters to cut the trawling lines of foreign vessels attempting to fish inside the new exclusion zone.

However, it was the tiny patrol boat Thor that instigated the third and final Cod War, in November 1975, when its crew opened fire on a British fishery protection vessel, the Lloydsman, inside Iceland's newly-declared 200 miles of territorial waters.

The conflict quickly escalated, with rival gunboats ramming each other, fishing boats having their gear deliberately cut by Icelandic patrol boats and the arrival of Royal Navy vessels in the North Atlantic.

The Cod Wars reached their peak when the Icelandic government officially broke off diplomatic relations with Britain and ordered the closure of the British Embassy in Reykjavik. It was the first break in diplomatic relations between member states of Nato.

It was a war that resulted in defeat for Britain and sealed the UK's participation in the now discredited Common Fisheries Policy.

Britain's deep-water fleet was forced to retreat from its traditional fishing grounds in what was now Icelandic territorial waters.

The defeat marked the slow demise of the once bustling deep-sea trawler ports of Aberdeen, Grimsby and Hull.