Norway threatens to ban EU fishermen from Norwegian waters after New Year
Fishermen from EU countries risk being banned from Norwegian waters if a fisheries agreement with the EU, the UK, and Norway does not come 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 vessels from the EU and the UK,” Minister of Fisheries and Seafood Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen (H) said in the Norwegian parliament (Storting) on Friday.
“We can also not expect that Norwegian vessels will have access to their zones before the agreements are in place,” he stated.
He also briefed the Storting on other relevant case details.
Negotiation delays
“Negotiations with the EU and the UK on fisheries agreements for 2021 are severely delayed due to the delays in the Brexit negotiations between the two and the fisheries’ place in them.
“That means that it is not a given that the negotiations will be completed before the turn of the year,” Ingebrigtsen pointed out.
Norway has had fisheries cooperation with the EU for over 40 years.
The cooperation means, among other things, that Norwegian fishermen have been able to fish in EU waters, and vice versa.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
