Faroese court case over excessive fishing quotas heads to supreme court

The Faroese Supreme Court will review the case against the fishing vessel Norðborg after a lower court ruling over illegal overfishing in Icelandic waters, Faroese public broadcaster KVF reports.

The ship’s owner was fined 100,000 Danish kroner in March 2025 for exceeding its allocated quota by 107.26 tonnes—99 percent above legal limits. Prosecutors had sought a 600,000-kroner penalty and the forfeiture of an estimated 10 million kroner, the vessel’s projected earnings from the overfished catch.

The Faroese Maritime Court rejected the confiscation demand, prompting the prosecution’s appeal to the Supreme Court.