Iceland, Faroes may face EU fish sanctions

Terra Daily: Iceland and the Faroe Islands could face EU sanctions over "unsustainable" mackerel catches after an EU Fisheries Council agreement this week.

The EU Council Tuesday adopted a regulation under which sanctions can be slapped on non-EU countries that allow "non-sustainable fishing." Sanctions could include trade restrictions and limiting the use of EU ports by vessels flying the flag of the targeted country.

Norway and Scotland's regional government have been seeking EU sanctions against Iceland and the Faroes over their increased mackerel harvests in northeastern Atlantic Ocean waters.

The two countries unilaterally increased their take of the prized fish this year after four-way Coastal States talks (including the European Union, Faroe Islands, Iceland and Norway) to reach a mackerel deal failed to materialize for a third consecutive year.

Talks for 2013 mackerel quotas are to begin in October and now Norway and Scotland will be armed with the possibility of EU sanctions should the negotiations again fail to produce an agreement....

Whaling ships in the Reykjavik harbor, shot by Martin Sauter, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

Faroe Islands blast threat of EU sanctions in mackerel war

Terra Daily via AFP: The Faroe Islands, an autonomous Danish territory, on Wednesday harshly criticised calls by Ireland and other EU countries for sanctions against it and Iceland for over-fishing of mackerel.

"This is a disturbing and very short-sighted approach from our closest European partners," Kate Sanderson, who heads the Faroese Fisheries, Trade and Regional Policy Office at the Faroese prime minister's office, told AFP.

Backed by France, Portugal and Spain, Ireland asked the European Commission Monday for information on potential trade measures against their north Atlantic neighbours, the latest chapter in what has been dubbed a 'mackerel war.'

EU fishing states are angry at high quotas set unilaterally by the Faroe Islands and Iceland on the grounds that global warming is pushing more mackerel north into their waters....

Mackerel shot by Ed Bierman, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license