Committee backs 750 extra fishing days for group 5B

A large majority supports giving fishing boats in group 5B an additional 750 fishing days this year, according to KVF. The Centre Party member of the fisheries committee has joined the governing coalition in backing the proposal from Fisheries Minister Bárður á Steig Nielsen.

The committee majority says groups 5A and 5B should also have the same buffer system as the other groups. Under that system, unused fishing days from the previous year are carried over.

There is no clear argument, the majority says, for excluding groups 5A and 5B from such an arrangement.

Republicans oppose proposal

The committee minority, the Republican Party, does not support the proposal and recommends that Parliament reject it.

The minority says that granting group 5B more days because it has used all its allocated days makes it difficult to logically explain why additional days should not also be given to other groups or vessels in groups that have exhausted their days.

The proposal will receive its second reading in Parliament on Wednesday.