EU and Faroes reach truce in herring dispute

The Faroe Islands has agreed to stop overfishing herring, and the EU will end trade restrictions imposed last year.

A dispute between the European Union and the Faroe Islands over herring has ended, Maria Damanaki, the European commissioner for fisheries and maritime affairs, announced today (11 June).

The EU imposed a ban on herring from the Faroe Islands in August 2013, saying that the Faroe Islands was not managing stocks sustainably. The action was taken four days after the Faroese government took the rare step of asking the United Nations to arbitrate.

The deal, struck between Damanaki and Jacob Vestergaard, the islands’ fisheries minister, will end proceedings with the UN and the World Trade Organization.

“After long and intensive negotiations, I am satisfied that we can soon consider the herring dispute as something of the past,” Damanaki said. “Faroese fishermen will be able to come back to EU waters and European fishermen can continue their traditional fisheries in Faroese waters.”

A separate fisheries dispute between the EU and Iceland remains unresolved.