Fisherman challenges government over expanded fishing days

Faroese fisherman Óli Jacobsen has accused the government of misusing parliamentary consent to expand fishing days for a specific vessel, despite earlier legislative opposition.

Jacobsen, owner and operator of the trawler Líraberg in fishing zone 5a, was involved in drafting the 2019 fishing regulation amendments. He stated in a recent radio interview that the government is now attempting to reallocate unused fishing days from 2024 to zone 5b, a move he called a circumvention of parliamentary intent.

In July 2019, legislators from the Union Party, People’s Party, and Social Democratic Party jointly proposed a motion urging the government to explore the possibility of increasing fishing days for zone 5b. However, the parliament rejected this proposal and instead agreed to equalize zones 5a and 5b with other fishing zones, allowing unused fishing days from previous years to be transferred within a designated buffer zone.

Jacobsen argues that the government now plans to use the 2019 parliamentary consent to implement what legislators previously refused—granting additional fishing days to a specific zone. He noted that the unused days being reallocated are not from 2019 but from 2024.