EU block Icelandic boatsmoves to in fishing row: EU takes first step towards ban on Icelandic fish landings
* Action follows dispute over mackerel quotas
* Escalation could affect Icelandic bid to join EU
By Pete Harrison
BRUSSELS, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Europe's fisheries chief has taken the first step towards blocking Icelandic vessels from offloading fish in European Union ports in an escalation of a dispute that threatens Iceland's bid to join the EU.
EU Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki made a formal request to the executive of the European Economic Area (EEA) to meet before Jan. 14 to discuss a possible embargo on Iceland, her spokesman Oliver Drewes said on Tuesday.
"Given the importance of the matter, we consider that this is a step that we should undertake as a matter of urgency," he said.
The EEA is a single market grouping the 27 countries of the EU with Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
Iceland, which suffered heavily with the collapse of its banking system during the economic crisis, started talks this year on joining the EU, which it hopes may bring greater stability and financial security.
But the island of 320,000 people has also sought to cash in on an explosion of mackerel stocks in its waters, after the fish started swimming further north than usual.
That has brought it into conflict with the traditional mackerel-fishing nations of Scotland, Ireland and Norway, which have until now managed the catch levels between them.
The dispute has escalated since fishing talks broke down in the summer and Iceland unilaterally raised its quota to allow its fishermen to catch 130,000 tonnes of mackerel, compared to a traditional catch that the EU estimates at 2,000 tonnes.
Three EU commissioners, including Damanaki and the commissioner in charge of EU enlargement, Stefan Fuele, wrote to Iceland in October warning that failure to find a solution to the "mackerel war" threatened their relations. [ID:nLDE62K04S]
The conflict has prompted comparisons with the "cod wars" of the 1950s and 1970s, which led to a naval stand-off between Iceland and Britain.
Iceland says more than 1 million tonnes of mackerel, a quarter of the stock, migrated into its exclusive economic zone during the five-month summer feeding season. It intends to maintain this year's 17 percent share of the north Atlantic catch in 2011.
0 comments:
Post a Comment