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Fishing trawlers on the North Sea (archive image): dispute over fishing rights
Photo: PASCAL ROSSIGNOL / REUTERS
Trouble about cod, mackerel and co .: Because of the fishing dispute between Norway and Great Britain, the German fishermen for their part fear a confrontation with the Scandinavian country. After Brexit, the Norwegian government is currently trying in several places to increase its own catch quotas at the expense of EU fishermen, according to a statement from the German Fisheries Association. "Because the fish stock to be distributed is not growing, someone has to foot the bill for these self-service campaigns by the Norwegians," said the association's president, Gero Hocker. "It cannot be that the EU will accept that."
According to the German fisheries, the background to the conflict is the upheaval after Great Britain left the EU. "While the EU was able to negotiate a basic agreement with Norway on access and quota distribution, the negotiations between the Norwegians and the British failed." Increase EU. "Since the total catches do not increase in the context of sustainable management, this would result in a permanent reduction in the EU's fishing opportunities," the association said.
The association expects an escalation by the end of August at the latest, "because the EU fishermen from Germany, Spain, Portugal, France and Poland would then have exhausted the quota that Norway still wants to grant them." There is now a threat from Norway to arrest the ships from five EU countries. "Should the EU not defend the legitimate rights of EU citizens in this situation, there is a risk of permanent losses of fishing rights with a total value of several hundred million euros per year."
With Brexit, Great Britain also left the EU's Common Fisheries Policy.
The government in London said it wanted to revive the domestic fishing industry - and make access to British waters more difficult for European fishermen.
At the same time, by leaving the EU, London has also left joint agreements on access to waters in Norway and other countries where a large number of the species used for fish and chips such as cod and haddock are caught.
mic / dpa
