By Martha Moss - 9th August 2010
Should our efforts [to come to agreement on quotas] not be fruitful I cannot guarantee that we will continue to exchange fishing possibilities with the Faroe islands and Iceland in 2011
EU fisheries commissioner Maria Damanaki
Brussels may cut fishing ties with Iceland and the Faroe islands if the regions fail to downgrade their planned mackerel quotas, EU fisheries commissioner Maria Damanaki has warned.
The European commission was reacting to news on Monday that the Faroe islands was "unjustifiably" planning to triple its traditional mackerel quota entitlement to 85,000, following a similar move by Iceland.
Damanaki said, "We will put all our efforts into ending this untenable situation by trying to come to an agreement with all states fishing on the north eastern mackerel stock.
"Should our efforts, however, not be fruitful I cannot guarantee that we will continue to exchange fishing possibilities with the Faroe islands and Iceland in 2011."
The commission statement said the move was "in clear contradiction with the avowed objective of sustainable fisheries", and could result in the collapse of the north eastern Atlantic mackerel stock.
It had also come as a surprise, the statement added, with the Faroes having indicated in July that they supported efforts to maintain sustainable management of the stocks.
"Should the current anarchic situation in the mackerel fisheries continue with unreasonable positions being maintained by parties, then the commission will contemplate all necessary measures to conserve the mackerel stock and safeguard EU interests," it said.
Scottish MEP Ian Hudghton raised the need for an "urgent discussion with Iceland on the issue of the mackerel fishery" during the July debate in the European parliament on Iceland's EU membership bid.
He said, "Action on the mackerel issue cannot wait to be included in the one or two year process of detailed membership negotiations with Iceland. Existing bilateral agreements ought to be enforced.
"Very recently it has been reported that there is increasing opposition to EU membership among Icelanders.
"There is no attraction whatsoever for Iceland in being offered the opportunity to join the EU common fisheries policy (CFP) as it stands.
"Therefore there is no leverage to be had, on the mackerel issue, from threatening to block Iceland's accession to the EU and the CFP."
