| Author (Person) | Ward, Andrew |
|---|---|
| Series Title | The Economist |
| Series Details | No.8694, 7.8.10 |
| Publication Date | 07/08/2010 |
| ISSN | 0013-0613 |
| Content Type | Journal | Series | Blog, News |
|
See also: Iceland defiant over mackerel catches Iceland’s fishing industry has vowed to press ahead with its bumper mackerel catch in spite of an escalating dispute over the fish that threatens to damage the country’s bid to join the European Union. Critics have accused Iceland of risking a repeat of the “cod wars” of the 1950s and 1970s – when its fishing fleet clashed with British trawlers in the North Atlantic – by plundering the sea of mackerel. Maria Damanaki, the European Union fisheries commissioner, has warned that Reykjavik’s decision to increase its mackerel quota “risks impacting negatively” on negotiations for Iceland to join the EU, amid anger among fishermen in the UK and Ireland. But the Federation of Icelandic Fishing Vessel Owners on Tuesday said its members had already caught 60 per cent of the 130,000-tonne quota unilaterally set for this season – compared with the traditional catch of 2,000 tonnes – and had no intention of stopping. Sigurdur Sverrisson, a spokesman, denied the catch was irresponsible. He said Iceland could have caught several times more than the quota after a large-scale migration by the fish into Icelandic waters. Experts say rising ocean temperatures have caused mackerel – one of the most important species for Scotland, Ireland and Norway – to swim further north in search of cooler waters. “You could take a fishing rod into Reykjavik harbour and catch dozens within 30 minutes,” Mr Sverrisson said. “Our waters are brimming with mackerel.” Iceland has blamed the dispute on the EU and Norway for excluding it from regional quota negotiations but Mr Sverrisson said he was hopeful of a common agreement before next year. Ms Damanaki wrote to Stefan Fuele, the commissioner in charge of EU expansion, last month to warn there was “no justification” for Iceland’s quota increase, according to a memo disclosed on Tuesday. Fisheries were already expected to be the thorniest issue in accession talks, which started last month. Richard Lochhead, Scotland’s fisheries secretary, said he had received assurances that the EU was committed to resolving the wrangle with Iceland and the Faroe Islands, which last month set its annual mackerel quota at 85,000 tonnes – 15 per cent of the recommended global total allowable catch, exceeding their previous 4 per cent share. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010 see also: Fish – a catch in Iceland’s EU saga Fish, not finance, is Iceland’s future. This at least is the vision of the savvy, gnarled fishermen of Dalvik, a community of 1,500 souls nestled on a fjord under snow-capped mountains just below the Arctic Circle. Two years after Iceland’s overextended banking system and currency exploded like one of the island’s 35 active volcanoes, financial adventurism is out and fishing is back in fashion. “We are realising, after the collapse, that natural resources are the beginning and the end of our economy. Energy and fish are our greatest resources,” says Gretar Thor Eythorsson, a political science professor at the nearby Akureyri university. Nowhere is the return to tried and tested ways of living more evident than in Dalvik, where Samherji, one of Iceland’s biggest fish companies, dominates the local economy. It employs one in 10 residents, including Poles, Russians, Filipinos and Thais. Some smaller fish businesses, creaking with debt, suffered from the financial crash, which destroyed the value of the Icelandic krona. But Samherji, with operations from Germany, Poland and the UK to Mauritania and Morocco, is going from strength to strength. Its Dalvik plant markets 10,000-12,000 tonnes of fish a year. It specialises in niche products such as protein-rich fish heads which, extending a centuries-old tradition of Icelandic fish exports to west Africa, are sold to Nigeria. All of which casts doubt on whether Iceland, despite having applied last July for membership of the European Union, will decide that it is really in its national interest to join the club. Several issues divide Iceland and the EU – agriculture, whaling and a dispute with the UK and the Netherlands over Icesave, a failed online Icelandic bank – but fish is in some respects the most slippery of them all. “We would lose control of our fishing rights. We would lose control of our industry. All the decisions would be taken in Brussels and not in the interests of Iceland,” says Gestur Geirsson, managing director of Samherji’s land-based production. To qualify for EU membership, Iceland would have to participate in the bloc’s common fisheries policy, which sets national quotas for how much of each species can be caught. Rule-bending is rampant. France, Greece, Italy, Malta and Spain will each receive a reprimand this week from the European Commission for failing to curb unsustainable fishing. Icelanders, who have fished the Atlantic since their Viking ancestors settled the island more than 1,100 years ago, believe their methods are better. Unlike many European fish businesses, Samherji and other Icelandic companies receive no state subsidies. Not without reason, they boast they are among the most efficient in the world, managing fish stocks as well as turning a profit. There is, of course, a catch. EU membership would require Iceland to accept the bloc’s rules on free movement of capital, which would in theory enable European companies to buy their Icelandic competitors. At present, this is impossible under Icelandic laws. “This will be an issue right at the heart of the membership talks,” predicts one Commission official. Fishing is central not only to the Icelandic economy, providing 40 per cent of export earnings, but to the Icelandic identity. Long under Norwegian and Danish overlordship, the nation did not achieve full independence until 1944. “The resources issue is blown out of all proportion by the emotional sovereignty issue. We are such a young republic. All these nationalistic sentiments swirl around,” says Birgir Gudmundsson, a politics and media professor at Akureyri university. Volatile opinion polls capture this mood. When EU leaders gave the green light two weeks ago for the launch of membership talks with Iceland, one survey indicated that 58 per cent of the population wanted the government to withdraw its application. Fish supplies part of the explanation, says Pall Vilhjalmsson, a leader of the No movement. “To live in a modern society, we have to control our fishing rights. We are a resource-based economy,” he says. So why did Iceland apply to join the EU? “The short answer is that we had a national nervous breakdown,” he says, referring to the psychological influence of the financial crash. The fishermen of Dalvik are the first to admit that they, like many of their 320,000 countrymen, bought into the extravagant illusion that Iceland could be a financial empire of the north. “I won’t lie. I was up for it when it was going on. Now we know of course that it was crazy, and we’re angry with government about how it ended up,” says Mr Geirsson. Fishing represents a return to reality. “I am quite happy with how it has turned out,” Mr Geirsson reflects. “We are strong. We are alive and kicking. We will survive.” Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010 Iceland’s fishing industry has vowed to press ahead August 2010 with its bumper mackerel catch in spite of an escalating dispute over the fish that threatens to damage the country’s bid to join the European Union. |
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| Subject Categories | Business and Industry |
| Countries / Regions | Europe, Iceland |
