Calls grow to ban exports of unprocessed coastal catch

Speakers at Iceland’s Fisheries Conference called for a ban on exporting unprocessed fish caught by coastal fisheries, mbl.is reported. The conference opened at Harpa on Thursday and ends on Friday.

Sveinn Agnarsson, a professor in the University of Iceland’s business department, discussed the potential long-term effects of exporting unprocessed catches. He said it could make it harder to maintain quality and reputation, and that knowledge, experience and technology would be lost.

About 60,000 tonnes of unprocessed fish are currently exported, he said, compared with a more normal figure of 20,000 tonnes. Most of that would be flatfish, which is harder to process and which consumers prefer to buy whole.

During a discussion, Ægir Páll Friðbertsson of Iceland Seafood said foreign processors buy fish at Icelandic markets. He cited examples of fish that were 10 to 12 days old by the time they reached processing plants, saying it was not a quality product.

Friðbertsson linked the rise in unprocessed exports to coastal fisheries and proposed export restrictions on the VS pool and on catches from those fisheries.

Hallveig Ólafsdóttir, an office director at the Ministry of Industries, told the conference on behalf of the minister that plans were under way to amend the Fisheries Management Act. The changes would include clearer rules on VS catches. A working group on unprocessed catches is also preparing a memorandum to inform the planned amendments.

Ólafsdóttir said restrictions or fees would be complicated to introduce. A fisherman who sells fish at market cannot be held responsible if a third party later exports it unprocessed, she said, adding that agreement was needed on how to proceed.