MPs clash over whether fisheries agreement was breached
Thursday 8th October 2026 on 22:01 in
Iceland
A dispute has emerged over whether a written agreement on fisheries policy was breached when the infrastructure minister cut the regional quota by 1,200 tonnes in September, mbl.is reported. The effects are felt most in the line-fishing allowance and shellfish and shrimp compensation payments.
Ólafur Adolfsson, an Independence Party MP and parliamentary group chairman, raised the issue in Iceland’s parliament on Thursday. He said the agreement was signed in April by parliamentary group leaders and allowed an additional 2,700 tonnes for coastal fishing in return for leaving the line-fishing allowance and shellfish and shrimp compensation unchanged.
The agreement also called for a government MP and an opposition MP to be consulted on draft legislation for a planned restructuring of the so-called quota-pool system. The infrastructure minister had intended to present the proposals in the autumn. Adolfsson said the regulation changed the agreement’s terms and asked what the opposition should do when agreements were not honoured.
Guðmundur Ari Sigurjónsson, parliamentary group chairman for the Social Democratic Alliance, and Sigurjón Þórðarson of the People’s Party said the regulation was consistent with the agreement. They said it concerned postponing changes to the law until a comprehensive review in the autumn and did not cover regulations.
Sigurjón said the infrastructure minister, Eyjólfur Ármannsson, might have consulted MPs before issuing the regulation. The matter was now on the agenda of parliament’s industry committee, he said, urging opposition MPs to “take a breath.”
Stefán Vagn Stefánsson of the Progressive Party said the issue was about keeping commitments, not whether the industry committee would discuss the matter. He said the agreement’s terms had been “absolutely clear” to those who signed it, adding that the People’s Party MP’s understanding was mistaken.
Bergþór Ólason of the Centre Party called the matter serious. He said that agreements had once been made verbally, but in recent times had needed to be put in writing.