The government of the Faroe Islands has introduced a bill to parliament to reform fisheries policies, promote sustainability and change the way fishing licenses are administered.
Expected to pass through parliament in July, the bill will seek to make law that anyone who seeks to participate in Faroese fisheries must be registered and pay taxes in the Faroe Islands and all crews must be paid in accordance with Faroese collective agreements.
Minister of Fisheries Høgni Hoydal, said: “The natural resources in the ocean are of utmost importance for the livelihood of the Faroese people. The main aim of the fisheries reform is thus to ensure a sensible and sustainable exploitation as well as to increase the value of the Faroe Islands’ marine resources.”
The proposal asserts that marine resources are property of the people of the Faroe Islands and may therefore neither in law nor practice become private property of anyone in the fishing industry. There will also be provisions to remove foreign ownership from the industry by 2022.
The reform proposes that all fisheries must be biologically, economically and socially sustainable and all living marine resources in Faroese waters remain the property of the people and cannot become the property of private companies or individuals or be sold abroad.
The legislation prevents private sales of licenses and fishing rights and fishing rights are to be granted in line with a market-based system. Catches and all related products should be landed in the Faroes and processed domestically for added value where possible.
The industry will maintain 75% of the quotas for 2018, whilst the remaining 25% will be sold at auction as short-term and long-term licenses. 20% of caught fish will be auctioned for Faroese companies and no individual company will have access to more than 17.5% of the total fisheries rights.
Inspection and control, both at sea and on shore, will be significantly strengthened and may be linked with quality control.
10 years ago, the Faroese Parliament agreed to terminate the current fishing licenses on 1 January 2018, by which time a new legislation regarding fishing licenses and resource management must be in place.
