Faroese parliament member demands annual fishing quota reports

The Faroese government should provide parliament with yearly reports on fishing quotas, not every other year as currently proposed, a member of the labour committee has argued, according to a report by Faroese broadcaster Kringvarp Føroya.

Eirikur í Jákupsstovu of the Republic party, who serves as the committee’s minority spokesperson, criticised the plan to amend existing laws that would reduce reporting frequency. He warned that major shifts in the fishing industry can occur between years, pointing to significant changes observed just last year.

“Waiting two years is too long to adjust,” í Jákupsstovu stated. He also questioned why a separate public consultation was not held on the proposal to extend fishing licence validity from five to ten years. The labour committee was informed by the government that no consultation was deemed necessary, as authorities claimed to already be familiar with industry stakeholders’ views.

While supporting the extended licence period, í Jákupsstovu proposed maintaining the current eight-year validity instead of the proposed ten years. The issue will be revisited during later parliamentary sessions.