The EU plans to bring forward its decision on sanctions against Iceland and the Faroe Islands over the ongoing mackerel dispute. Irish officials say it will be difficult to discuss fishing in Iceland’s accession talks before the dispute is resolved.
A two-day summit of European fisheries and agriculture ministers began in Brussels yesterday, RÚV reported.
At the end of the first day, Ireland’s fisheries and agriculture minister, Simon Coveney, told RTÉ that the attendees had discussed the British and Irish proposal to bring forward the decision on sanctions.
The proposed sanctions would centre on restrictions of the sale of mackerel product and fishing technology to EU member states from Iceland and the Faroes.
The Irish minister said it is important to take decisive action against exploitation if the mackerel stock is to be saved from collapse.
Coveney continued that he still supports Icelandic EU entry, but that it will be difficult to negotiate the fisheries chapter in the coming months without the dispute being concluded beforehand.
How many Icelanders are actually profiting from the fishing? I heard it is only a very small minority that takes all the profit out of it. If it is so, for what is the majority fighting except for the rich to sustain their wealth?
I eat fish and I thinks the EU should give a break to Iceland and the Faroe Islands with this mackerel dispute, fishing are their main sources of income, thus the EU should put its energy somewhere else!
They are catching fish in their waters. Our fish stocks are not the responsibility of either the Faroe Islands or Iceland. I don’t eat fish, but on principal I have to side with Iceland and the Faroe Islands here.
The issue here is global warming, isn’t it? Mackerel school in warmer water than Iceland has had in the past, so few were taken in Iceland’s waters, but now with warmer water around Iceland, and too warm water reaching up further below, the mackerel are migrating more north with the water they prefer. This puts them in Iceland’s waters, where they consume the forage the fish Icelanders usually fish usually consume, and where our fishermen can’t follow to catch them. So, either the Icelanders have to catch them or destroying them, or let the EU fleets in to do so. And so the only solutions are to increase the quotas for Icelanders, to what they need to save their usual fish’s forage, or arrange for Iceland to let EU fishermen in to do so. What is no solution is for Icelanders to simply slaughter the mackerel for poaching their fish’s forage, which is simply waste of resources, and will deplete the mackerel from the sea.
Icelands fishing policies are certainly not perfect, maybe even far away from being so; however, the EU, with its utterly poor record of fishery policy and the selfinflicted damages to the fishing-stocks under ther control and waters should “ban” them from criticizing others or even trying to force there own bad policies onto other countries. It is actions like that which have led lots of Icelanders away from the path into EU and it will continue that way if these “specialists” form Brussels are keep doing what they are doing.
Iceland and the Faroes will not back down in the way or methods that they use to catch many fish around their shores including mackerel,no matter who has talks with them ,with fishing being their main source of cash they will not give in.In a way they are taking a powerful stance against other nations in order to keep their business and country viable.I cannot see anyway that the EU or others can stop them.Its a very sad situation to be in………….