December 3, 2004

 

 

Canadian Ports Closed Due to Shrimp Dispute

 

Canada has closed its ports to vessels from the Faroe Islands and Greenland in response to overfishing of shrimp outside its territorial limit.

 

According to Federal Fisheries Minister Geoff Regan, the move was made because fishing had resumed in excess of the 2004 quota set by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO).

 

"Port closures are an important measure against overfishing," Mr. Regan said in a release. "They serve to dissuade other vessels from engaging in non-compliant activities and can pose a significant economic hardship for the vessels involved."

 

A source said Wednesday that a vessel from the Faroe Islands, a self-governing region of Denmark, resumed a shrimp fishery outside Canada's 200-nautical-mile limit.

 

The Faroe Islands had disputed its share of the NAFO quota for five years and its fisheries minister warned that boats would return to international waters if it did not get a greater share of the allotted European shrimp catch.

 

Mr. Regan said the resumption of the fishery sets a poor example for other fishing nations and the global fishing industry.

 

"This is an allocation issue that needs to be resolved by NAFO," Mr. Regan said.

 

He said the ports, mainly in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, will remain closed until Denmark provides satisfactory assurance that it will comply with the NAFO shrimp quota.

 

Danish officials objected to the quota of 144 tons this year, saying parts of the European share had been given to countries that do not even catch shrimp.

 

Under NAFO rules, the countries filed an objection with the organization and set their own quota at 1,344 tons.

 

Faroese vessels had caught more than 700 tons of shrimp by the time the fishery was shut down last fall.

 

Canada considers the higher quota illegal and has cited it as an example of illegal international fishing that has contributed to the devastation of East Coast fisheries.

 

Canadian officials agreed last summer, however, to support the Faroe Islands at a NAFO meeting in September, where the country sought a larger portion of the European quota.

 

Those efforts failed, and the Faroe shrimp fishery resumed.

 

Canada harvests 83 per cent of the total catch in the international waters outside its 200-mile economic zone, about 10,800 tons. European nations share the remaining 17 per cent.

 

Canada banned vessels from the Faroe Islands in March 2002 over the issue. Ports reopened in August, 2003, after Faroese officials agreed to comply with NAFO quotas.