A leading Norwegian fishing industry organisation has rejected calls by the Irish industry for a ban on Norwegian vessels fishing in Irish waters.
“We sympathise with Irish fishermen after a poor Brexit deal, but it is not fair to send the bill to Norway,” Fiskebåt, the Norwegian Fishing Vessel Owners’ Association, says.
A statement issued by Audun Maråk, chief executive of Fiskebåt, the Norwegian Fishing Vessel Owners Association, and its fisheries scientist Gjert E. Dingsør, was issued in response to a call last week for such a ban by Irish Fish Producers’ Organisation (IFPO) chief executive Aodh O Donnell.
"Norway's overfishing practices are the main cause of a scientifically recommended mackerel quota cut of 22% next year,” O Donnell had said.
The Fiskebåt officials said that “this is an unfair and incorrect statement”.
“Norway is fishing a mackerel share comparable to what we used before 2008, when Iceland increased their fisheries. Additionally, Russia has increased their fisheries in international waters, as have Greenland and the Faroe Islands,” their statement said.
“Norway increased its share in 2021, based on what we believe is rightfully ours according to three criteria: 1) the amount of mackerel in Norwegian waters (zone affiliation), 2) contributions to the science and monitoring of the stock, and 3) historical fishing,”they said.
“ Norway and the EU had agreements on mackerel from 2010-2020, where Norway accepted a lower share in exchange for full access to fish mackerel in EU (UK) waters. After Brexit, Norway lost access to UK waters in 2021, so we returned to the share we believe is correct based on the criteria above,”they said.
“Fiskebåt and Norway believe that all nations should take responsibility for joint agreements on fish quotas, which is why Norway has reached out to the EU, UK, and other nations. For 2023, the UK and Norway reached an agreement on mackerel,”they said.
“For 2024-2026, Norway, UK, and the Faroe Islands have an agreement open for other coastal states to join. Both agreements have contributed to reducing overfishing,”they continued.
“We agree that every European country has a responsibility to fish sustainably to protect fish stocks. However, we do not agree with the claims that certain countries have,”they said.
“ We expect the EU to also contribute to reduced overfishing and an agreement that includes all coastal states. In relation to the current distribution criteria, the EU has a high share of the mackerel quota. The mackerel stock now has a more northeastern distribution than earlier,”they said.
“We sympathize with Irish fishermen after a poor Brexit deal, but it is not fair to send the bill to Norway,” the statement said.
“ Norway has not changed our share of blue whiting, and a large part of the quantity we fish in Irish waters is from the EU-Norway bilateral agreement on quota trades. Thus, it does not make sense to restrict this access,”they said.
“We welcome the EU and other coastal states to join our mackerel agreement to ensure sustainable fisheries, as well as agreements on other common stocks,”the statement concluded.