EU’s ‘cod war’ with Norway ramps up – Brussels threatens Oslo over UK departure penalty

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The row is centred on Svalbard in the Arctic Circle, a territory established in 1920 and is governed by Norway. Norway also claims sovereignty of the archipelago’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for fishing within 200 miles and says they are responsible for setting quotas for all fish stocks within this area.

Because of this, Oslo allocated 18,000 tonnes of cod for EU vessels for 2021 because of the UK’s departure from the EU.

As a result of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU, Norway believes that the United Kingdom’s historic fishing can no longer form the basis for a quota to the EU, and the United Kingdom’s historic fishing quota of 6,000 was therefore deducted when the EU quota was calculated.

In a letter sent to EU Commission chiefs, Fisheries Minister Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen made clear to the EU that any fishing beyond Norway’s quota allocations will be classed as illegal fishing and will be enforced by the country’s Coast Guard.

The Norwegian Coast Guard claims the EU fleet has fished around 80 percent of its quota, set by Norway.

The government agency said with weekly catches of 50 tonnes per day, and full thrust from 15-16 EU trawlers that usually come fishing in August, the remaining quota of 3900 tonnes is expected to be fished up quickly.

But Brussels are not happy about Oslo setting the quota’s and have allocated EU member states a cod quota of 29,000 tonnes for fishing off Svalbard.

This is contrary to Norway’s sovereign rights under the law of the sea, Oslo clams, which takes the EU’s unilateral quota setting very seriously.

But the European Commission today said their actions on quotas were “discriminatory acts” and a violation of the Svalbard Treaty.

The Svalbard Treaty signed in 1920 manages diplomatic recognition of the archipelago and conflicts on the law of the sea.

Under Article two of the treaty, all signatories were given equal rights to engage in commercial activities including fishing.

In a Commission note, seen by Express.co.uk, the EU threatens to hold Norway responsible for what they describe as an illegal act if Norway stops EU vessels’ fishing.

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It adds the EU is “ready to implement all necessary countermeasures against Norway to ensure the EU’s legitimate fishing rights if illegal acts are carried out.”

The EU makes it clear that they “do not accept the Norwegian arguments that the Svalbard zone is a Norwegian zone in line with the Norwegian economic zone.”

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