While the world has been recently transfixed with the awe, beauty and power of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull, we at EDFish have been thinking about the other wonders of Iceland, namely what occurs under the vast ocean surrounding the island nation. Located on some of the most historically productive fishing banks in the world, Iceland has long been a nation based on fishing, and this is reflected in their aim “to ensure the sustainability of the fisheries while emphasizing the economic benefits of the fisheries sector.”
In fact, Iceland’s annual marine catch has average 1.1 million metric tons; almost 2% of the global marine harvest. This catch is directly responsible for 8% of Iceland’s gross domestic product. Up to 1/5 of the nation’s GDP is directly and indirectly attributable to the fishing industry! At the same time the industry has been very profitable in recent years. Clearly the entire nation benefits from the fishing sector. But, this hasn’t always been the case.
Profitability of the Icelandic fishing industry was poor and declining until the implementation of Individual Transferable Quota systems, a form of catch shares. Iceland first implemented ITQs in the herring fishing in 1976. The program was expanded to demersal fisheries in 1984, to nearly all fisheries in 1991, and in 2004 to incorporate all commercial vessels into the system. The catch share system is “the cornerstone of the fisheries management system.” The value of the ITQs has increased greatly since 1984 (from about US $25 million to around US$4 billion) due to introduction of more species and sectors into the system and higher unit value of ITQs.
Read the complete story at EDF.