Coastal States negotiations on the Atlanto-Scandian herring in London, 16 - 17 October 2013 without any conclusive result, but will be resumed on 10 December 2013

The coastal states negotiations between the Faroe Islands, the European Union, Iceland, Norway and the Russian Federation on joint management of the Atlanto-Scandian herring, came to an end today, after two days of negotiations. Regrettably the parties were not able to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement among all five parties concerned on the allocation key for 2014.

In order to initiate negotiations and to attempt a constructive dialogue, the Faroese delegation proposed to have talks on an interim sharing arrangement for the fisheries in 2014, which would be based on objective and equitable criteria, to which the Faroe Islands attach much importance. This interim arrangement would entail an agreement upon the allocation key for the Atlanto-Scandian herring until the joint scientific working group, established to document the zonal attachment for this particular stock, has finished its work. No agreement crystallized in this regard, but the parties agreed to meet again on 10 December 2013.

However, the coastal states agreed to limit the total allowable catch of Atlanto-Scandian herring for 2014 to 418,487 tonnes, as advised by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. The parties also agreed to establish a joint scientific working group, as was proposed by the Faroe Islands at the last coastal states negotiations, which is mandated to collect and collate information on the distribution and abundance of the Atlanto-Scandian herring from 1995 to 2013. The results from the joint scientific working group are to form the foundation for the 2015 management arrangement of the Atlanto-Scandian herring.

Press [here] to see the Statement of the Faroese Chief Negotiator.