Jørgen Niclasen, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Faroe Islands, today expressed his disappointment that Canada’s Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Gail Shea, has now acted on her announcement last month to close Canadian ports to Faroese and Greenland fishing vessels.  

 

“This heavy-handed unilateral measure by Canada will not help resolve the long-standing issue of shrimp allocation, which needs to be dealt with multilaterally in NAFO”, said Minister Niclasen. “The Faroe Islands and Greenland will continue to work in good faith to resolve the matter within NAFO.”

 

In responding to Canada’s announcement of port closures two weeks ago, Minister Niclasen made it perfectly clear that the Faroe Islands and Greenland are not willing to accept a management measure for 3L shrimp which other NAFO Parties, including Canada, have also admitted is less than satisfactory.

 

 Minister Niclasen therefore expressed his surprise that the Canadian Government should resort to issuing such an ultimatum and going ahead with port closures on this basis. 

 

“It is entirely unacceptable to expect us to revert to an unreasonable and unfair allocation of shrimp in NAFO, and then simply brand our shrimp fishery as “foreign overfishing” if we do not” said Minister Niclasen.  

 

 “Port closures are an inconvenience for Faroese and Greenlandic vessels. They are not, however, a reason for us to compromise our right to a fair and responsible quota for 3L shrimp, based on our legitimate interest and history in the 3L shrimp fishery”, said Minister Niclasen.

 

The quota of 3,101 tonnes set by the Faroe Islands and Greenland is based on the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of 30,000 tonnes for 3L shrimp in 2010 agreed by NAFO. This is equal to around 10% of the total catch, compared with Canada’s present share of over 80% of the same stock.

 

 “Exercising our legal rights as a fishing nation and member of NAFO to object to a poor management decision is not undermining the integrity of NAFO and international fisheries cooperation. The real problem is the inability of the organisation to reach a lasting consensus on responsible management measures that take full account of the legitimate interests and fishing history of all parties. This continues to be the crux of the problem with 3L shrimp, and it is our joint responsibility to fix it”, said Minister Niclasen.

 

 

·         The Faroe Islands and Greenland have joint membership of NAFO as the Contracting Party referred to as Denmark (in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland). As autonomous territories within the Kingdom of Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland have exclusive competence over their respective fisheries management policies, including through participation in multilateral fisheries organisations such as NAFO. Denmark’s interests as a fisheries nation are covered by their membership of the EU, which is a Contracting Party to NAFO. The Faroe Islands and Greenland are not encompassed by Denmark’s membership of the European Union.

 

·         Decisions by Denmark (in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland) to object to NAFO management of 3L shrimp and set autonomous quotas, albeit in accordance with the rights of Contracting Parties under the NAFO Convention, have only been taken after careful consideration and have been fully reported and their rationale explained to NAFO.

·         Unlike other NAFO decisions on quota or effort allocation, the present NAFO division of shrimp in 3L takes no account of the interests of Commission members whose vessels have traditionally fished in the area, which is the fundamental criterion in NAFO decisions. A small portion of the total allowable catch, of which Canada is allocated 83%, is shared evenly between the other 11 Contracting Parties, regardless of whether they have a history, capacity or even an interest in fishing the stock in question.

 

·         The autonomous quota of 3L shrimp set by Denmark (in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland) for 2010 and reported to NAFO is 3,101 tonnes. This is roughly 10% of the total TAC of 30,000 tonnes. The level of this fishing limitation has been determined with a basis in NAFO’s own allocation criteria and it remains at the same level proportionate to the level of the TAC as in previous years.