European Commission blasts Norway, Faroe Islands over pelagic fishery management

A dispute over how best to manage pelagic stocks in Northeast Atlantic fisheries has raged for over a decade, but the European nations involved in the debate don't appear any closer to a solution.Disagreements surrounding Northeast Atlantic mackerel started around 2010, and since then, no mackerel agreement has encompassed all coastal nations engaged in the region’s mackerel fisheries. The E.U., Norway, and the Faroe Islands had a deal for mackerel quota from 2014 to 2020, but the U.K. left the E.U., the deal fell through, and Brexit has continued to complicate negotiations since.In the absence of an agreement, there have been frequent allegations of overfishing, not only regarding mackerel but also for the Northeast Atlantic’s two other major pelagic species: herring and whiting. Even though the coastal states generally agree on the scientific advice on the fish stocks, data has repeatedly shown that they end up fishing much more of their share of quota than the International ...