Lecture January 10th 2012
At 12.00h in M102 Sólborg v/Norðurslóð
Decision making, the Norwegian Way – the case of allocation of concessions and quotas in fisheries
The Norwegian Parliament – Stortinget – has appointed The Office of the Auditor General as control mechanism with regard to the legality of Ministerial decision making. The Norwegian Association of Coastal Fishermen has claimed that the Ministry of Fisheries is breaching in particular the Act of Fisheries Participation of 15th March 1999 No. 26 (Deltakerloven) and the Act of Marine Resources of 6th June 2008 No. 37 § 2 (havressursloven). The main argument is that despite the clear legal obligation to allocate fishing rights according to principles of law as displayed in Acts and statutes, the Ministry is abdicating from its duty. Instead of the legal decision making procedure as established by the Storting, the market is installed as allocation mechanism. And – even worse – the vessels owner may claim and receive payment for his own good for concessions and quotas received for free by the Ministry.
Peter Örebech, University of Tromsö, at present researcher in The EU Framework 7 EcoFishMan project (headed by MATIS) – responsible for “the state of the art” study of the Common Fisheries Policy – the legal framework.
