Grönland missnöjda med makrillavtal

Nyligen slöts ett makrillavtal mellan EU, Norge och Färöarna. Island undertecknade inte avtalet, men en kvot har avsatts för dem ändå.  I avtalet finns dessutom en klausul som innebär en begränsning av den mängd makrill som EU-båtar kan fånga i grönländska vatten. Företrädare för grönländska intressen är missnöjda med denna klausul:

Klausulen som det blir referert til sier følgende: ”The parties shall refrain from allowing vessels flying their flag to participate in any fishing activities regarding mackerel in third party waters, unless these activities are exclusively for experimental purposes with a limit of 4.000 tonnes.”

I følge en representant fra den grønlandske fiskerinæringens arbeidsgiverorganisasjon er en av hovedformålene med avtalen å hindre et grønlandsk makrellfiske. Dette synet blir også støttet av fiskeriministeren på Grønland, som mener at dette gjør Grønland til den store taperen i makrellkonflikten.

Grönland hade själva beslutat öka sin makrillkvot från 60 000 ton till 100 000 ton. Helt oberoende av andra staters kvoter och internationella överenskommelser. Hälften av detta hade avsatts för EU. Något som nu är omöjligt inom ramen för det makrillavtal som finns mellan Norge, EU och Färöarna:

“The employers’ association of Greenland calls on the government of Greenland to immediately demand that the EU and the Danish government remove those elements of the agreement that are directly aimed at Greenland,” said Henrik Leth, chairperson of the Industry committee on fisheries and export of the employers’ association of Greenland.

[…]

The clause has made Greenland the losing party in the dispute for the Northeast Atlantic mackerel stock, he said.

“The mackerel war in the North Atlantic has thereby been moved into Greenland’s fishing waters,” said Leth, who is also chair of Polar Seafood, and hasspoken before in favor of Greenland getting a say in managing and sharing the mackerel stock.

“There is no doubt that the recent agreement concluded between the Faroe Islands, Norway and the EU is directly harmful to the interests of the Greenland fisheries,” said Leth.

“It can only be viewed as an agreement that – in addition to dividing up the quota between the signatories – is also intended to block the possibilities of the Greenlandic fishing industry taking part in the fishing on an equal footing with everyone else. This is unacceptable, both morally and from the point of view of the interests of international fishing policy.”

According to one industry source, the clause is part of the reason why the Faroe Islands ended up getting such a favorable deal in its final agreement with Norway and the EU.

If the clause had not been added, EU vessels would have had rights over 50% of the quotas given to experimental fisheries in Greenland, which in this case would have represented 50,000t of mackerel for 2014. However, Norway argued such an agreement could not exist alongside a coastal state deal.

Enligt artikeln från Undercurrent News var det Norge som krävde att klausulen skulle in i avtalet. Grönländarn menar att mycket lite hänsyn tagits till grönländska intressen och de är mycket missnöjda med avtalet.

Avtalet är dessutom tveksamt ur beståndsynpunkt. De avtalade kvoterna ligger långt över de vetenskapliga råd som finns vad det gäller TAC:

The five-year mackerel deal sealed by Norway, the Faroe Islands and the European Union set the total allowable catch for the Northeast Atlantic stock at 1.24 million metric tons for 2014 — comfortably above the temporary advice of 890,000t issued by scientists last October.

Noticeably absent from the deal was Iceland, the fourth Northeast Atlantic mackerel coastal state. Observer Russia and hopeful newcomer Greenland are also excluded.

Under the deal, signed on March 12 – andaccessible in full here – at 6pm in London, the Faroes will receive 12.6% of the annual TAC set over the next five years. This is a huge increase from its historical allocation — prior to the mackerel wars’ outbreak in 2010 — of 4.83%.

The EU’s share, in turn, will drop from its recent share of 68.65% to 49%, a drop corresponding to 120,000t, or DKK 2 billion (€268m), according to the Danish pelagic producers’ association.

Norway’s share of the total will drop from 31.35% to 22.5%.

The distribution means the Faroes will have a quota of 156,240t this year, the EU of 611,000t, and Norway of 279,140t.

Another 15.6%, or 193,000t, have been set aside for others, “in particular with the interests of Iceland as a coastal state in mind”, said the Faroese fisheries ministry.

The Norwegian fisheries ministry also said 42,000t have been set aside for international waters regulated by the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission.

Avtalet har dessutom belönat ett flerårigt överfiske som färöiska fiskare ägnat sig åt. Färöarna får också tillgång till 29% av makrillkvoten i skotska fiskevatten.

Island har också kritiserat avtalet då de menar att det leder till ett kraftigt överfiske.

Intressant?
Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om Makrillavtal, Makrillfiske, NEAFC, Makrillbestånd, TAC, Överfiske, EU, Norge, Färöarna, Island, Grönland, Makrill, Pelagiskt fiske