The so-called mackerel war is far from over after Iceland labelled a deal between the EU, Norway and Faroe “unacceptable”.
The country’s fishing fleet was left out in the cold after other nations with a stake in the shared north-east Atlantic mackerel stock reached an agreement on their quotas for this year.
The deal struck on Wednesday night means Faroe gets a 12.6% share and the EU and Norway take 71.8%, leaving Iceland and Russia to fight over the remaining 15.6%.
Iceland and Faroe have for years refused to sign up to internationally-agreed catch limits for the fish on the basis that global warming has shifted more of the stock into their waters.
Yesterday, Iceland warned Wednesday’s deal would lead to over-fishing and damage relations.
The country’s fisheries minister, Sigurdur Johannsson, said: “We participated in the negotiations to ensure Iceland’s fair and rightful share, based on scientific advice and sustainable utilisation of the mackerel stock.
“In the later phase, however, it was clear that the EU moved closer to the demands of Norway, which were based on severe increase of fishing – exceeding advice.
“The methods used to reach this agreement are unacceptable.
“By going behind Iceland’s back, the EU, Norway and the Faroe Islands have forfeited trust and greatly impaired future cooperation and negotiations.”
The mackerel agreement paved the way for a long-awaited breakthrough in negotiations over the 2014 catch limits for several key North Sea species.
Scottish fishers have been given a 5% increase in their cod quota, but also 15% cuts for haddock, whiting and saithe in line with management plans for these stocks. Transfer deals with Norway meant the cuts in haddock and whiting were reduced to 6% and 8% respectively.
Mixed outcomes for other North Sea stocks included a 15% quota increase for plaice and a 2% cut for herring.
Scottish Fishermen’s Federation chief executive Bertie Armstrong said: “We had hoped that there would have been a bigger increase in the North Sea cod quota, but at least a proposed cut has been fended-off.”