In recent weeks Iceland has been having a dispute with the European Union over the fishing of mackerel within the Icelandic exclusive economic zone. Icelandic representatives have not been allowed at the negotiating table on mackerel by Norway and the EU despite the fact that the species has increasingly been found within the Icelandic EEZ mainly due to warming of the sea. As a result Iceland has not been bound by any agreements on mackerel and therefore the Icelandic government has issued unilateral quotas for mackerel in Icelandic waters.

This year mackerel has been in the Icelandic EEZ in such numbers that it has been hard for fishermen to fish other species without getting mackerel in their nets as well. Many Icelandic harbours were also filled with mackerel this summer and it could easily be caught by fishing poles from the docks. The overwhelming numbers of mackerel in Icelandic waters have had drastic  negative effects on the marine biological system resulting e.g. in serious lack of food for other species vital for Iceland’s economy as well as for various sea birds such as puffins.

Most of the bioligical effects of the mackerel have yet to surface and will do so in the coming months and years. As a consequence of all this the Icelandic government had no choice but to issue significantly increased quotas for mackerel to Icelandic fishermen earlier this year in harmony with scientific data and sustainability. The EU has protested this as well as some Scottish politicians claiming that the mackerel belongs to Scotland and the EU despite the fact that it is in the Icelandic EEZ and Iceland is not bound by any agreements on the issue.

The EU has even threatened to close its harbours for Icelandic ships (and from the Faroe Islands as well which also raised its mackerel quota unitalerally) as some politicians from Scotland have called for which if executed would be in breach of several agreements between Iceland, Britain and the EU. After all no laws have been broken by the Icelandic government. If that was the case the EU would be threatening Iceland with legal actions instead of illegal economic sanctions. What the EU is doing regarding this issue is simply being a bully.

However, perhaps the most interesting part of this whole mackerel dispute is how it is conducted. If Iceland was a member of the EU there would not have been any dispute at all. The EU would then simply have negotiated with itself and then told the Icelandic government how things would be. Iceland would not be in the driver’s seat of its own interests as it is now through its status as a sovereign country. On the other hand the Icelandic government is not dealing with its British counterpart on this issue but with the European Commission.

Consequently when the international media has discussed the mackerel dispute it always talks about the four coastal states involved. That is Iceland, Norway, the Faroe Islands and ... the EU.