Oslo | Norway and the United Kingdom have ended, without reaching an agreement, their negotiations for a bilateral exchange of fishing quotas in 2021, the Norwegian government announced on Friday.
“Brexit has undoubtedly created a series of challenges for the Norwegian fishing industry. It turned out to be extremely difficult to get an agreement with the UK on access to (fishing) areas and quota trading for 2021, ”said Norwegian Fisheries Minister Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen.
“As for the reciprocal possibility of fishing quotas in our respective waters in (fish) stocks that we share, our points of view were too far apart to agree. It is therefore better to draw a line for this year, ”he added in a press release.
This means Norwegian fishermen will not be able to fish in British waters and the British will not be able to fish in Norwegian waters this year.
In March, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Norway reached a tripartite agreement, the first since the British left the EU, on the overall level of authorized catches in the North Sea.
But the three parties still had to find bilateral agreements between themselves on the exchange of quotas and access to fishing grounds.
While Oslo and Brussels made such a deal, the EU and Norway still had to find common ground with the UK.
Failing to reach a compromise with London before the deadline of March 31, the 27 adopted temporary quotas until July 31 for waters shared with the United Kingdom.
Tensions have resurfaced in recent days, with European fishermen complaining about London’s slowness in issuing licenses for the 6-12 nautical mile zone off the British coast.