The second round of negotiations trying to solve the mackerel quota row have ended without agreement.
Representatives from the EU, Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands have been attempting to broker a deal on quota limits for 2011.
Iceland and the Faroes caused outrage earlier this year when each unilaterally set its own mackerel quotas in their own waters.
According to the BBC, Scottish Fisheries Secretary Richard Lochhead said the positions of Iceland and the Faroes remained “far apart” from those of the EU and Norway. “We will continue to explore all possible avenues in order to ensure there is sustainable management of the mackerel fishery for next year and beyond,” he said.
“Our intention now is to pursue further talks with Iceland and the Faroes as soon as possible.”
It is not yet known when the third round of talks will take place, but it will likely be next month in London. The EU has been praised by Scottish fishermen for its tough stance in the negotiations.
[…] abundant little fish have been coming into Icelandic and Faroese territorial waters every year and the two governments finally snapped last year and set huge unilateral quotas for the fish — outcasting the Faroes from its old […]
Iceland and the Faroe Islands should definately be far apart from those EU nations that wish to establish low quotas for non EU nations in anticipation that once a part of the EU, the quota will have been set by precedence, making any future change difficult. Complaining, particularly Scotland, that a nation outside their membership would have the right to set their own quota after refusing to advance a requested invitation last year to discuss a mutual concern is politics at its’ most selfish and individual interest.