Tensions rise between the EU and Norway over fishing quotas
Member states and the European fishing industry are criticising Norway for unilaterally appropriating quotas for certain fish species, and are calling on the Commission to take trade sanctions to protect the European market.
At the Agrifish Council on Monday (23 September), member states called on the European Commission to crack down on Norway for exceeding its quotas on certain pelagic species such as mackerel.
“Are we heading for a fishing war?” asked Swedish minister Peter Kullgren on his arrival at the Council.
He and his colleagues exchanged views on the forthcoming consultations with Norway on fishing opportunities in 2025, due to take place between October and December.
Since the Brexit, a number of stocks are managed trilaterally by the EU, Norway and the UK.
Last year, Norway unilaterally overshot quotas.
On 17 June 2024, the United Kingdom, Norway and the Faroe Islands signed a trilateral agreement on their mackerel quotas for 2024, 2025 and 2026. Norway’s share is almost 38% higher than it was between 2014 and 2018, and this outraged the European fishing industry.
Norway has also reduced the EU’s shared quotas in Svalbard (Arctic Ocean), and claims exclusive access to these waters, leading to a diplomatic row between the two partners.
“I think that they have become a little too rigid and that they want to take back a few too many things, compared with the way we have traditionally proceeded,” explained the Swedish minister.
The Norwegian Ministry of Fisheries did not respond to Euractiv’s request for comment by the time of publication.
Economic sanctions
For the Pelagic Advisory Council (PELAC), which advises the European Commission and Member States on fisheries management, these practices jeopardise the sustainable management of the stock, and contravene the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and in particular the Convention on the Conservation of Endangered Species.
Europêche, the EU-level fisherman’s association, warned that these “excessive and inflated” quotas are contributing to the weakening of the European fishing industry.
According to Kullgren, the Commission has asked Norway to respect United Nations rules on the sea, at the risk of “dealing with the problem in another way, for example by imposing customs duties on fish”.
As the EU is the leading market for Norwegian seafood products – 70% of the Norwegian salmon goes to EU countries – the Spanish minister Luis Planas called on the Commission to “defend its interests”.
The Irish Fish Producers’ Organisation (IFPO) is also calling for access to its market for Norwegian farmed salmon to be reduced as long as officials in Oslo set unilateral quotas are “above the scientifically recommended limits needed to preserve stocks”.
Available tools
At the moment, however, there is no indication that the invoked EU reaction will happen. On 12 September, the Commission signed a series of agreements with Norway – among others – as part of the agreement ending customs duties on certain fish, which will strengthen market access for Norwegian products in the EU.
“We have very extensive relations [with Norway], which means that we have the right tools at our disposal to bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion,” assured Zsolt Feldman, Council president and Hungary’s Secretary of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, at the press conference on Monday evening.
The Council and the Commission are also betting on the fight against illegal fishing through imported products, notably via the fisheries control systems that will be strengthened for third countries in 2026.
Third countries urged to adopt the EU fisheries digital control system
Fisheries ministers reiterated the importance of protecting the EU from imports of illegally caught fish, calling on third countries to adopt the digital catch certification system, which will become compulsory for EU national authorities in 2026.
Read more with Euractiv
