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Fisheries Minister Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen (H) during Question Time at the Storting.
Vidar Ruud / NTB
Fishermen from EU countries are at risk of being expelled from Norwegian waters if a fisheries agreement with the EU, the UK and Norway does not enter into force before the New Year.
– If we do not have agreements as of January 1, we will not open Norway’s economic zone for fishing with EU and UK vessels, Fisheries and Seafood Minister Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen (H) said on Friday in the Storting.
“Nor can we expect Norwegian ships to enter their areas until there are agreements,” said the minister.
He also reported on the backdrop for the message.
– Negotiations with the EU and UK on fisheries agreements for 2021 are considerably delayed, due to delays in Brexit negotiations between the two and the place of fisheries in them. This means that it is not a given that the negotiations will be completed before the turn of the year.
Norway has had a fisheries cooperation with the EU for more than 40 years. The cooperation means, among other things, that Norwegian fishermen have been able to fish in EU waters and vice versa.
Audun Maråk, Executive Director of the Deep Sea Fishing Fleet Organization, thinks this is very unfortunate.
Fishing boat
Will hit the Norwegian fishermen
Audun Maråk, CEO of Fiskebåt, the deep-sea fishing fleet organization, thinks this is very unfortunate.
– This will affect fishermen in the UK, Norway and the EU, Maråk tells E24.
– The reality of the situation is that we enter 2021 without a zone of mutual access in the central fishing zones, he says.
Maråk says that this is something that has been discussed in the industry and that Fiskebåt has had a dialogue with the Ministry of Trade and Fisheries.
– I have faith and hope that we will find a solution in early 2021, says Maråk.
– The objective should be to find solutions that affect the established fishing pattern as little as possible. And that Norwegian fishermen, to the extent that they are affected, have the opportunity to request compensation, he says.
Maråk emphasizes that the unresolved situation is a consequence of the lack of a Brexit agreement and that it will hardly be possible to reach an agreement by 2021 in view of the short deadlines.
He believes that the opportunity for cooperation between the EU, Norway and the UK has already been lost.
– The Brexit deal is too late. Our wish now is to be able to maintain access to fishing as much as possible, says Maråk.
