Iceland’s Ministry of Fisheries has appointed a cross-party committee to examine new approaches to levies on marine resources.
Thorsteinn Pálsson, who served as minister of fisheries from 1991 to 1999, has been appointed as the committee’s chairman by Fisheries Minister Thorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir. According to the Ministry, the committee is appointed according to Parliamentary rules with one member from each party represented in Parliament.
The committee is required to present its conclusions to the Minister in the form of a draft bill no later than 1st December this year.
The requirement is to evaluate the available options for levies on the exploitation of marine resources, such as market links, output fees or other possibilities with the aim of ensuring that any levy for access to a commonly-owned resource should be proportionate to the margins resulting from fishing.
The aim is for the committee’s recommendations should form the basis of a cross-party accord across the wider society conducive to a more stable operating environment for fisheries and related industry sectors.
