And this is on top of the scientifically and diplomatically agreed Coastal States quota set between them, the European Union, Norway and Russia of 571,000 tonnes. Hence, what was taken in 2010 was probably around 870,000 tonnes out of a total estimated mackerel stock of 2.6 million tonnes. That is, over one third. Iceland is not a member of the European Union (although it is seeking admission, it’s own economy being in default) and nor are the Faeroe Islands Dabrafenib supplier but fishery allocations are supposed to be sorted out by the London-based North East Atlantic

Fisheries Commission. In 2010, in the face of the islander’s fait accompli, however, this body did nothing. Similarly, nor did the Marine Stewardship Council, an organization actually tasked with encouraging fisheries sustainability. And, to MK-8776 clinical trial rub salt into the wound, the fish were not destined for the dinner tables of Europe and elsewhere, because at this time of year they are in post-reproductive poor condition, but ground up for pig feed and fertilizer. We are told that mackerel constitute an excellent human protein resource rich in healthy and essential omega 3 fatty acids. Far from being a second-rate species, mackerel can be and are now smoked like kippers, barbequed, and pan fried, as

I prefer them and eaten with new potatoes and a tart rhubarb or gooseberry sauce. They have even been lauded as the European sashimi, eaten raw with English mustard instead of Japanese wasabi. Why not? Especially when their cousins, the tuna have been virtually fished to extinction. But we are now, in 2011, facing a fisheries disaster that has been on the horizon for three years and it appears that the politicians have done little or nothing to confront it. How can this be? On 12 June 2011, almost exactly one year after Clover’s article was published, another mackerel article

appeared in the Sunday Times. It appears that rich in the collapse of negotiations regarding this over-fishing problem, the Icelandic and Faeroese governments have abandoned quota agreements designed to protect stocks and their fleets are once again old targeting the migrating mackerel. These same two ‘countries’ have already, virtually unilaterally, driven the blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) to extinction such that stocks of this species have collapsed and, now, they are intent on doing the same with mackerel. This is because the main Faeroese company, Thor Offshore and Fisheries, which already has six trawlers in the mackerel grounds, is bringing in another vessel, the Athena factory ship, to add to its fleet. Another Faeroese company, Vardin, will add three more industrial-scale trawlers to the growing fleet that will target the mackerel in the North Atlantic.