September 2, 2010

Scotland's fishing industry can expect more hardship this fall when Iceland raises its cod quota and floods the market, pushing down fish prices, industry leaders warned.

With the fishing industry in the midst of a so-called "mackerel war" that has seen Icelandic fishermen compared with marauding Vikings over foreign fish landings, Scottish fishermen are bracing themselves for more difficulties when Iceland increases its cod quota by 10,000 tonnes to 160,000 tonnes.

"They will export more cod to the UK and that deflates the markets. It is bad news when we are dealing with a reduction in the level of our cod landings. Normally, supply and demand would kick in and the price would go up. The extra supply from Iceland means that won't happen. Iceland would suggest that they can increase their quotas because they are managing their stocks extremely well. I don't know whether that's true or not, but it seems to me to be a pretty gung-ho attitude," said Mike Park, the executive chairman of the Scottish White Fish Producers' Association.

There has been fury over the decision of the Icelandic and Faroese governments to set their own mackerel quotas. Fishermen have twice mounted quayside blockades over the past two weeks to prevent Faroese trawlers from landing mackerel at Peterhead.

First minister Alex Salmond said the two countries were "deeply irresponsible" and risked causing "chaos" in international fishing.