Richard Lochhead, the Scottish Fisheries Secretary, has requested the assistance of an international mediator in negotiations between the European Union, Iceland and Norway over a fishing quota dispute.  Scotland hopes that mediation will help solve the problem, since this dispute has been ongoing for quite some time and negotiations have continued to remain at a stalemate despite multiple attempts to quell the conflict.

At the center of the dispute is a disagreement between the European Union and Norway on one side and Iceland and Faroe Islands on the other side.  The European Union and Norway claim that Iceland and the Faroe Islands have been increasing their catch quotas for three years, and in doing so, have endangered the mackerel and herring stocks significantly.  The European Union and Norway also claim that the increased catch quotas are threatening the sustainability of both species within the area.

As a result of these claims, Scotland wants the European Union to place sanctions against the two countries.  "The Scottish government has been at the forefront in calling for sanctions against both the Faroe Islands and Iceland in response to their irresponsible setting of unilateral quotas, which between them amount to almost half the scientifically recommended total," Lochhead said.  However, according to Iceland and the Faroe Islands, there is increased evidence that the fish are changing their migration patterns, thus changing the distribution of the location of the stock.  They also claim that there was a deal in which the two countries were limited to a 10% catch of the overall fisheries intake in the North Atlantic. 

According to Lochhead, Scotland hopes that with the help of a neutral third-party mediator, this dispute will finally reach an end without the necessities of placing sanctions against Iceland and the Faroe Islands.  "We continue to press for sanctions to help bring all countries back to the table,” said Lochhead.  “But if the impasse is to be broken, this 'table' might have to look different.  I would therefore be willing to support new approaches if that will help deliver a resolution to this long-stagnant dispute."

However, Sigurgeir Thorgeirsson, Iceland's chief fisheries negotiator, remains convinced that the EU is ignoring critical evidence that there are changing mackerel migration patterns and the fish are cramming into Iceland’s waters.  It's "a mackerel invasion," Thorgeirsson said. "These fish aren't tourists.  They're not coming to our waters just to look around.  They're coming to feed."