NORWEGIAN FISHERMEN HAPPY WITH EU/NORWAY AGREEMENT

The Norwegian Fishermen’s Association says it is satisfied that it has finally succeeded in reaching agreements with the EU well overtime, says Kåre Heggebø, head of the Norwegian Fishermen’s Association. This means that Norway and the EU agree on a quota exchange and access to fishing in each other’s zones.

“Unsettled contractual conditions will always have consequences for the fishermen on both sides. Therefore, it is now very gratifying that an agreement for 2023 is in place,” says Kåre Heggebø.

He says the Fishermen’s Association is primarily concerned that the fishermen should be able to exercise their fishing activity and fish their quotas without too many technical obstacles and restrictions on access to each other’s waters.

“This time, unfortunately, there were considerable challenges in agreeing on water access for joint stocks in the North Sea and coal mullet west of Ireland. Fortunately, the parties eventually succeeded in finding reasonably balanced solutions to these issues,” which Heggebø is very happy about.

Among other things, this will help to facilitate the winding down of fishing for the Norwegian coal mule fleet.

Kåre Heggebø says he would also like to praise the Norwegian negotiating leadership for great patience and good cooperation with the industry in what was to be a very demanding negotiation process, which fortunately ended up with a satisfactory result for Norwegian fishermen.

Both through participation in the Norwegian delegation and through direct contact with political leadership, the Fishermen’s Association has been close to the negotiation process and given our advice.

In a press release on Saturday morning, the ministry stated that Norway and the EU have signed bilateral quota agreements with the EU on the North Sea, Skagerrak, in addition to the neighborhood agreement with the EU on Sweden.

I am satisfied that we have finally reached an agreement. It is of course important for us to get these agreements in place, and ideally I would have liked to have seen that we managed to reach the goal many weeks ago. At the same time, it has been important from the Norwegian side to ensure a balanced agreement, which safeguards Norwegian core interests in the long term. We have managed this with this agreement, and I am satisfied with the result for this year’s fishing,” says Fisheries and Oceans Minister Bjørnar Skjæran.

“The negotiations with the EU have been ongoing since October last year, and countless hours have been spent in negotiation meetings in Oslo, Brussels and in video calls both at political and official level. Among the questions on which we stood far apart for a long time was Norwegian vessels’ access to fishing for cod in EU waters outside Ireland, and EU vessels’ access to fish in the Norwegian economic zone in the North Sea. There have been periods of hard work, but I am happy that the negotiations finally led to a good result,” says Skjæran.

“With the quota swap in place, Norwegian fishermen can start fishing on the quotas we have swapped for us such as prawns, blue halibut and redfish off Greenland, and pollock in the EU zone. In the exchange agreement, the EU has received a cod quota in the Barents Sea of ​​9,150 tonnes,” says the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.

Norway and the EU have also signed this year’s agreements on the management of stocks in the Skagerrak and the protocol for the so-called neighborhood agreement with Sweden, which gives some Swedish vessels access to fishing quotas such as cod, pollock, haddock, NVG herring and industrial fish in Norwegian economic zone south of 62N.

In the agreement on fishing in the Skagerrak for 2023 between Norway and the EU, it is stated that from 1 January 2024 Norway will introduce a ban on cross-border fishing. This means that the border with NØS in Skagerrak can no longer be crossed without raising equipment. Furthermore, strengthened reporting requirements will be introduced.

Source: https://www.fiskarlaget.no/nyheter/details/5/3177-fiskarlaget-fornoyd