Norway''s fisheries and coastal affairs minister Svein Ludvigsen has used tough language to attack the EU and other states over their failure to agree on restrictions on blue whiting catches.
Because they have failed to back Norway in a cutback, he has re-opened the Norwegian fishery (from July 18) for blue whiting in Norwegian and international waters, according to a statement from the ministry.
A statement quoted him as saying: "Bringing the fishery for blue whiting under control is a common responsibility for all Coastal states. Norway will not single-handed take this responsibility. I have therefore decided to reopen the Norwegian fishery for blue whiting in Norwegian and international waters within a total allowable catch (TAC) of 890.000 tonnes. Norway will be the only Coastal state which have implemented measures to reduce the total catch of blue whiting compared to 2004", says Ludvigsen.
He said he had stopped the Norwegian fishery for blue whiting because he "assumed that the other Coastal states would have take action to reduce their total catch of blue whiting in 2005". Further, he said that during the Coastal states meeting on blue whiting in Brussels June 27 the Coastal states each Parties agreed to inform each other of the regulatory measures that has been implemented to reduce the total catch of blue whiting in 2005. The Parties also agreed to inform each other which regulatory measures that will be valid for the rest of 2005.
"I have evaluated the management measures proposed by the other parties. Neither the EU, the Faroe Islands [or] Iceland has taken actions to reduce their fishery of blue whiting compared with their catches in 2004. I am not impressed by the other Parties' willingness to implement management measures, which will lead to real reductions of the total catch of blue whiting," he added.
The statement said the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries is given the authorisation, in cooperation with the Institute of Marine Research, to establish areas closed for fishing to avoid any catch of juveniles and bycatch of other species.
It will be interesting to see what impact the decision has on the fish farming fishfeed market. This has seen reserve stocks and supplies fall dramatically over the last few months in quantity with a rise in prices because of the shortages. These had in part been laid at the door of less blue whiting production and also at the poor catch of sand eels by the Danish fleet.
