Minister Holm announces no changes to fishing protections in Faroe Islands

There are currently no plans to alter the fishing protections in the waters of the Faroe Islands. This was stated by the Minister of Fisheries, Dennis Holm, in response to inquiries from parliamentary representative Bárður á Lakjuni.

Holm explained that the fishing protections serve two primary purposes. The first is to separate different fishing equipment, such as hooks and trawl nets, as using them on the same routes can prove ineffective. This was the main objective behind the large trawling restrictions implemented in the 1990s. The second key aim of these area-specific protections is to safeguard spawning fish.

According to Bárður á Lakjuni, nearly 70 percent of the waters within a depth of 300 meters are either fully or partially closed to trawling. This extensive coverage poses challenges for certain segments of the fishing fleet, which is already facing significant restrictions. Many of the trawl protections have remained unchanged since the 1990s, with some restrictions dating even earlier.

It is clear that the existing trawling bans are quite extensive. Bárður á Lakjuni remarked on the difficulties of sustaining a profitable fishing industry under such stringent limitations.