EU fishermen are calling for consumers to boycott seafood products from Norway after the country moved to “unlawfully grab EU fish quota”.
According to Europêche, the Norwegian government is taking advantage of the post-Brexit situation to take more than its fair share of EU quota cod and mackerel. This behaviour has encouraged other countries, such as the Faroes, to follow suit.
Daniel Voces, managing director of Europêche, declared: “This unacceptable and disloyal behaviour shows no respect for the agreed and well-established EU fishing rights in the Atlantic. This also sets a dangerous precedent of an important EU partner, such as Norway, unliterally moving away from agreements for short term economic gain.
Unless a strong signal is sent from the EU to these countries, nothing will stop them from grabbing more and more EU quota of these and other fish species. EU citizens must realise that the legality and sustainability of the fish coming from this country are now put into question. EU fishermen call consumers, retailers and food suppliers to halt seafood purchases for the survivability of the EU fishing industry and fish stocks.”
The EU fishing sector also reiterates the call to EU institutions to close the single market to these products and remove trade preferences granted to Norwegian fishery products, especially for cod and mackerel.
Europêche, which said 60% of the fish caught by the Norwegians ends up in the European market, argues that this would not only be a strong retaliation measure but an important trade aspect to protect EU companies.
Additionally, unilateral quota increases will certainly endanger the sustainability of mackerel in the next couple of years, Europêche pointed out.
