The recent parliamentary elections in Iceland terminated the 18-year rule of the centre-right government and, according to Johanna Sigurdardottir, the new Prime Minister, the era of neo-liberalism dominating the country''s economy is over, reports Menakhem Ben-Yami.

Iceland's new minister of fisheries, Steingrimur Sigfusson, will overhaul the fishery management system

With almost 40% of Iceland's economy based on fisheries, the political change must shake-up the country's vast fishing and fishery-associated industries that were hit by both the global crisis and its effect on world fish markets, and the debacle of Iceland's banking and financial system.

European Union

The Social Democrats – the party of Ms Sigurdardottir – is all for Iceland joining the EU, with the view to improve its economy by replacing its shattered kronur with the Euro, a divisive issue among Icelanders. The Left Greens, the other coalition party, which despises neo-liberal economics believing that it is the EU's 'religion', is against such step. Most fishermen who remember the 20th century's cod-wars oppose it fiercely. Not only, says Arthur Bogason, who for years has been struggling to secure fishing rights to small boat fishermen, because they don't want their fishing rights to fall into the hands of foreigners and their rich fishing grounds to be exploited by fleets from other European countries. Icelandic fishermen also do not want to be managed by Brussels-based bureaucracy, all the more that the EU's fishery management system has a poor record in most respects. It could be only for the worse said Sigurdur Sverrison of the Federation of Fishing Vessel Owners. It appears, therefore, that the government would put the question of joining the EU to a national referendum.

Fishermen might agree to joining the EU, if fisheries were left out of the deal, but there seems to be no precedent to such exception. Presently, according to Jon Kristjansson, an independent fisheries consultant, polls show that close to 60% of Icelanders oppose joining the EU, all the more that it has become clear that Iceland would need to accept such membership without any exceptions.

Coastal fishery system

The new minister of fisheries, Steingrimur Sigfusson, who's also the finance minister, declared that he intends to overhaul the fishery management system. Accordingly, commercial fishing boats under 15 tonnes will be free to go handlining June, July and August, starting this summer, without having to buy quotas from the present quota holders. There will be, most probably, certain limitations, such as only owner-operated boats, limited fishing power (number of crews and jigging machines) and daily fishing time restrictions.

Since the maximum quota of 8,500 tonnes, previously allocated to villages, is going to be allocated to smaller jigging boats, boat owners are either taking the 'for sale' plaques off of their boats, or raising the asking price by some 100%. Also, all jigging machines are now sold out.

Quotas

Both government parties announced that they are going to let the ITQ system wither by withdrawing 5% of the quotas yearly. Artur Bogason, who has always opposed this system as disadvantageous to the small-scale sector, told World Fishing that some of the members of his union, who had not received any quotas at the beginning, took large bank loans to buy some. Now, if the government takes away 5% of their quota year after year and they have to pay the bank according to the original loan, they would go broke if the government did not reduce the loan by the same percentage.

According to Jonas Bjarnasson a veteran fishery scientist, the ITQ system had been "one of the triggering factors of the gamble, which shattered Iceland's main banks and its money system, and was now on its way out along with the neo-liberal dogmas" that were the ideology behind the ITQ. The quotas gradually taken off the current owners would be distributed into three parts: rented out on an annual basis; allocated to fishing villages; re-rented to the current owners. There will not be any transferability between companies. All this is a far cry from the promotion of the Icelandic ITQ system by economists such as Professor Ragnar Arnason, who were claiming that "Iceland's ITQ system creates new wealth", especially now when that wealth went with the wind…

Another question to ponder is whether and how the access to fisheries within Iceland's EEZ is going to be closed. In any case, a consensual opinion among WF’s interlocutors is that the future rests with the small-scale sector. Fixed gear (hook-and-line and net fishing) will take over also on the bigger vessels on the expense of trawling, even on high seas, and this trend has already begun.

Altogether, one would expect an ongoing debate for some time to come, until the course is finally set and Icelandic fisheries are again sailing upon calm waters.

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