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Conservatives still want to carry out an impact assessment for oil extraction in the Lofoten, Vesterålen and Senja sea areas.
It came about when the program committee presented its proposal for a new election program this week.
The fact that the Minister of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen is part of the commission has provoked reactions.
– It is shocking that the Minister of Fisheries thinks that it is okay that the area on which Norway is most dependent in the fishing context should be assessed for the impact of oil and gas, says Annsofie Kristiansen..
Annsofie Kristiansen from the Norwegian Association of Coastal Fishermen believes it is special that the Minister for Fisheries does not argue that an impact assessment is not appropriate.
Photo: John Inge Johansen / NRK
She is the general director of the Norwegian Association of Coastal Fishermen.
The Institute for Marine Research has previously stated that around 70 percent of the fish that Norway catches and sells, both inside and outside Norway, passes through Lofoten and Vesterålen at some point.
– I think it is special that this is the area in which you are willing to carry out an impact assessment. He, as Minister of Fisheries, should argue that it is completely irrelevant to have any commercial activity there that is so potentially harmful to fisheries, says Kristiansen.
Will bring the knowledge
The Minister of Fisheries himself says that a yes to an impact assessment does not necessarily mean a yes to oil drilling.
The ministry he heads is tasked with contributing to the sustainable management of the fishing and aquaculture industry.
Fisheries Minister Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen does not think it is problematic for him to stick to his own party’s wish for an impact assessment.
Photo: Bård Siem / NRK
– I am very much in favor of collecting the knowledge that an impact assessment will provide us on the possibility of opening ourselves to oil extraction. Although the political situation is not as realistic as it is now, he says.
Many in the fishing industry are critical of potential oil drilling in these areas.
Ingebrigtsen himself does not experience it becoming a twisted case that he, as Minister of Fisheries, opens for an impact assessment.
– No, it should be the case that opinions conflict with each other. What worries me most is that we should have knowledge. This applies to everything from offshore wind to oil drilling to fishing and aquaculture.
Here too, Kristiansen, from the Coastal Fishermen’s Association, disagrees.
– It is not so important with that information in those areas, because there are areas that are very important for the Norwegian fishing industry, says Kristiansen.
Don’t expect there to be cause for concern
Kristiansen thinks it’s strange that the discussion about oil extraction in these areas cannot be put aside.
However, he hopes there is no reason to worry that oil drilling may actually open.
– More and more politicians see open the madness for oil activities in these areas. So it is doubtful that there is activity there. In any case, we believe that it is unacceptable for an impact assessment to be debated at all.
The leader of the Fishermen’s Association, Kjell Ingebrigtsen, says they will closely monitor the Conservatives and the Fisheries Minister’s proposal.
Photo: ELISABETH KARLSEN / Nordland County Fishermen’s Association
At Fiskarlaget, Kjell Ingebrigtsen says they will follow developments closely.
– I note that the Minister of Fisheries has said that (yes to the impact assessment, red.anm.), but the last word has not been said in this matter, and there we will be a watchdog.
His namesake in the Conservative Party believes it is difficult to predict what the future will offer.
– Many say that this automatically means a yes to oil extraction, but not necessarily.
