fish2fork news

Mackerel row sparks restaurant boycott call

By Lewis Smith

August 16 2010 Lewis Smith

Restaurants have been urged by the Scottish fishing industry to boycott Icelandic and Faroese fish until they reduce their mackerel quotas.

Bertie Armstrong, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, called for the boycott by restaurants and other businesses in the interests of maintaining sustainable levels of fishing.

His call came amid a row sparked by the decision by Iceland, as revealed by Fish2fork http://www.fish2fork.com/news-index/mackerel-war-loss-of-eco-label.aspx in June, and then the Faroes to dramatically increase their mackerel catches in defiance of agreements with the European Union.

All the mackerel fisheries that have been judged to be sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council will lose their certification unless the issue is resolved by the end of next year.

Mr Armstrong said the decision by the Faroes to boost its mackerel quota four-fold to 85,000 tonnes and Iceland’s increase to 130,000 tonnes from 115,000 tonnes flew in the face of scientific advice.

The controversial decisions, he said, took the total allowable catch far above sustainable levels. If all nations fill their quotas the weight of mackerel landed will be more than 770,000 tonnes, 35 per cent higher than scientists recommend.

He described the quotas set by Iceland and the Faroes as “beyond silly” and said it was “wrong” for them to take so much. He accused them of behaving like “burglars” rather than “responsible householders”.

The fishermen’s leader said the Norwegians had been right in refusing to allow processors to take mackerel from the Faroes and Iceland called on others to follow the example with a boycott.

He accepted that the European Commission, which has expressed deep concerns about the position taken by Iceland and the Faroes, cannot yet boycott their goods but said businesses could and should.

“Businesses can and it’s the most powerful weapon that can be used in the market,” he said. “I think it’s the only reasonable way to get the message through.

“If the stock is fished to the point of deliberately damaging it, that’s no way to carry on a fishing industry.
“Our plea to restaurants would be, please take account of what these people are doing. Maybe it will shake them up.”

Richard Benyon, the UK Fisheries Minister, and Richard Lockhead, the Scottish Fisheries Secretary, have both written to the European Commission urging action to get Iceland and the Fasroes to re-think their quotas.

Both the UK government and the devolved Scottish government have condemned the quotas as “putting the stock at risk”.

Seven MSC mackerel fisheries will lose their sustainable certifications unless the quotas can be brought into line with scientific advice by the end of 2011. The Scottish, two Irish, the Danish, Cornish and two Hastings fleet fisheries are those under threat.

James Simpson of the MSC said: “All will lose their certification if this can’t be resolved. This needs to be resolved by 31st December 2011. There’s a need for high level discussions.”

Philip MacMullen, head of environmental responsibility at the industry body Seafish, said: “We should be past the time when states can declare a right to fish stocks that are already subject to a comprehensive management scheme. Stocks must be managed responsibly and according to best scientific advice. All parties to the dispute over North Atlantic mackerel should be prepared to negotiate towards a solution.”

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