Faroe Business Report — The International Review of Faroe Islands Industry and Trade - Faroe Business Report — The International Review of Faroe Islands Industry and Trade

It turned out a delegation of Scots had opted to boycott the 3-day gathering of scientists and policymakers as a way of demonstrating discontent with the fact that the Faroe Islands and Iceland had set themselves higher catch limits than their Norwegian and EU partners were willing to accept in the joint Coastal States management plan.

Organized by the Nordic Council of Ministers under the Faroese presidency of the Fisheries Cooperation, The Pelagic Complex brought together people from 14 different countries to present and discuss findings relevant to the science-based management of pelagic fisheries in the northeast Atlantic region — featuring highly migratory fish species including herring, mackerel, blue whiting, and to a degree, capelin and sand eel.

Changes in the distribution and productivity of some species can be dramatic, as witnessed with the booming mackerel stock which has become increasingly abundant in Faroese and Icelandic waters, presenting major challenges to the joint management effort. But just how long the now duly noted changes have been underway is a question that no-one seems to be able to answer.

As these fish species tend to compete for food and space, signs are the three main pelagic stocks can hardly exist together in peak condition simultaneously.

A few years back when the blue whiting fishery was at its height, mackerel appeared to be less abundant, especially in the northwestern corner of the northeast Atlantic. Whether the recent decline of blue whiting was caused by overfishing or, rather, by the rise of mackerel — or vice versa, that its collapse made mackerel surge — was but one of a number of questions considered at the conference. What seems clear, however, is that either blue whiting or herring, or both species, are now being squeezed in result of the dominance of mackerel.


Singular approach: “We don’t know how long this mackerel boom will last,” Jacob Vestergaard, the then Faroese Minister of Fisheries said after the conference. “What we do know is that, sooner or later, it’s going to give way to a competing species. Yet nobody knows whether, in a few years time, the fish will be found mostly in Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian, or EU waters.”

At the core of the mackerel conflict lie the claims of the Faroese and the Icelandic that their share of a joint quota should reflect the latest distribution pattern of the species.

Mr. Vestergaard added: “The conference brought up a whole lot of perspectives and one of the items to consider is whether we should try and look at the allocation issue from an entirely different angle. Perhaps it’s time all of the countries involved in the northeast Atlantic pelagic fisheries agree on a way to treat the three main commercial species as one biomass and develop a method of sharing that pool rather than focusing on each single species. That would give room for fluctuations within the individual stocks without necessarily disrupting the overall balance of the management and allocation framework — perhaps it might prevent disputes in the future. That’s one of the ideas that we’d like to take a closer look at.”

Former longtime managing director of the Faroe Marine Research Institute, Hjalti í Jákupsstovu, chairman of the committee that organized The Pelagic Complex, said that the conference had brought up “many relevant questions” but worried that little serious follow-up may ensue as long as the mackerel dispute continues.

“We’re very pleased with the conference and the feedback from participants has been very positive,” he said.

“There were many relevant questions that were brought up during the sessions and the fact that scientists from several fields participated — hydrographers, marine biologists, economists, and sociologists — made it very special and inspiring. But I’m afraid we’re not going to see much happening before the mackerel dispute has been settled. On the other hand, it really shouldn’t be impossible for the coastal countries to agree on how to responsibly manage these shared resources.”