Ræða sjávarútvegsráðherra í Hamborg 11. október 2003.

Hamburg 11. October 2003



Sehr geherte Gäste, Lieber Botschafter jon egill egilsson, Honorarkonsul Reinhard Meiners, meine Damen und Herren.

Ich möchte zunächst der Deutsch-Isländischen Wirtschaftsvereinigung dafür danken und meine Freude zum Ausdruck bringen, dass ich Gelegenheit erhalten habe, auf diesem Treffen hier in Hamburg, das zur Vertiefung der wirtschaftlichen Beziehungen zwischen unseren Ländern einberufen wurde, einige Worte zu sagen.

During my term as Minister of Fisheries, I have consciously emphasised the importance of these connections. Icelanders regard Germany as among the nations to which it has the closest ties of friendship, as interest among Germans in our country, history and cultural is greater than that usually shown by other European nations. Strong ties between the countries go back to the time of Jón Sveinsson, who wrote the Nonni books which became so extremely popular in Germany. The major works of our Nobel laureate, Halldór Laxness, have also been translated into German and have been well received. It is no less gratifying, however, to see how extensively modern Icelandic works have been translated into German. Writers such as Einar Már Guðmundsson, Einar Kárason, Steinunn Sigurðardóttir, Andri Snær Magnason and most recently, the crime writer Arnaldur Indriðason. His book Mýrin, or Nordermoor in German, has sold over 100 thousand copies, which is definitely exceptional by our standards, since there are fewer than 300 thousand Icelanders.

As I mentioned, it is important to maintain the especially good relations between our countries. As Minister of Fisheries I have visited Germany several times, once before as the guest of the German-Icelandic Chamber of commerce. In addition, the German Minister for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture, Renate Kunast, who is responsible for fisheries, has made an official visit to Iceland, some two years ago. Although the tasks facing the Ministers of Fisheries in Germany and in Iceland naturally differ considerably, and emphases change during the course of time, both of these countries aim at the same objectives in utilising the ocean's resources. Sustainable exploitation of the ocean's resources. The challenge continually facing us is to avoid exploiting natural resources to such an extent as to damage nature. We always bear the obligation to pass on nature's resources to our children in a condition at least no worse than when they were entrusted to us.

In Iceland, as in most other areas of the world, people involved in fisheries have been considering the sector's future – what the prime threats are and where the opportunities lie. At the annual meeting of the Federation of Icelandic Fish Processing Plants held recently, various threats and opportunities in fisheries were discussed. Two points were mentioned repeatedly. On the one hand, the substantial Chinese activity on markets which Iceland has been serving in the past and, on the other, the rapid development of aquaculture: what opportunities await us in this area, as well as the impact of farmed marine products on the whitefish market.

This is not the first time Icelanders have focused their attention on aquaculture. In the 1980s there were high hopes for salmon farming and public authorities forked out enormous sums for the purpose of strengthening the new sector. Those Icelanders here today will remember this period, no doubt with a shudder. For the rest of you, it is probably sufficient to say that we always speak of the "Great aquaculture adventure" when referring to this era. The name is more than a little cynical, to say the least.

In spite of this previous experience of aquaculture, we are not about to give up. On the contrary, you have to learn from your mistakes and continuing social progress is based on improving what we did previously. One main change is that the business environment in Iceland today, not least in fisheries, is completely different from what it was in the 1980s, when that great aquaculture adventure got underway. Enterprises are much larger, and accordingly much stronger. Now it is these companies and not the public authorities who are expected to take the lead in building up this sector. The role of politicians is primarily to formulate general policy and set a sound regulatory framework for the sector, in close co-operation with those involved. It is also important that public authorities support the development of expertise in this field. Here the efforts of the Ministry of Fisheries' research institutions is of major importance, as well as work in those university institutions active in the field.

Up until now, more effort has been directed at developing freshwater fish farming than raising of saltwater fish. Much more is known, for instance, about salmon farming than cod farming. This applies both to experience abroad and in Iceland. With regard to developing cod farming, however, we have much to learn from salmon farming.

The expertise and experience acquired in marketing salmon can hopefully help us considerably when it comes to marketing farmed whitefish. We must avoid a market collapse, as occurred for example when the enormous Chilean production flooded the European salmon market. In an incredibly short time, salmon was transformed from being an expensive delicacy into a fairly inexpensive, everyday food. This changed all the premises for salmon farming. In addition, production on such a vast scale has aggravated environmental pressures at the production site. We have to learn from this and follow the principle of sustainable exploitation in aquaculture just as in our fisheries. As far as cod farming is concerned, we have to move forward. A policy has now been formulated aimed at developing an improved for farming cod stock, thereby enabling the development as soon as possible a farming process covering all the stages from roe to harvest-size fish. During the first years, however, it may be useful to acquire experience of on-rearing, where small cod are caught and fed to harvest size in pens.

We must at the same time be aware that in cod farming, or farming of whitefish in general, we will face stiff competition, not least from Chile where farming of hake is now developing rapidly. The only thing we can do about this is simply to do better. Our extensive experience of whitefish markets abroad should prove to be invaluable, in addition to which we are not dealing here with sales of a fashionable delicacy, which people can simply tire of eventually. In fact, we are attempting to market an everyday staple, which in itself is a delicacy in terms of healthiness and quality, but is of such nature that no one tires of it.

But in spite of the fact that there are many things we need to consider in fisheries, and that there are plenty of threats lying in wait, we must not forget the increased trade and opening up of markets in the east. Improved living standards in former Soviet states and in the Far East naturally open up marketing opportunities for fish products.

One of the things that past experience has taught us is that to ensure the long-term sustainability of our fisheries we need good scientific information on which to base our management. The scientific basis must not have a narrow focus that examines each stock separately, but must instead take account of the complex interactions that occur within the marine ecosystem. We have already started managing some stocks on the basis of multi-species modelling, but there are many important interactions and predator-prey relationships that need further consideration.

One of these is the relationship between whales and fish. As whales form an integral part of the marine ecosystem, closing our eyes to their role will lead us to draw wrong conclusions on the functioning of that ecosystem. As our economy is overwhelmingly based on utilising marine resources, we simply cannot afford to be ignorant of how whales interact with different fish stocks. Because of this, we started this year to implement a scientific research plan regarding minke whales. This year we have taken 36 minke whales, out of a population of at least 43,000 in Icelandic coastal waters, and study among other things their food composition and thereby their interaction with the species that they prey upon.
Predator-prey relationships and other functions of the food web of the marine ecosystem were considered to be very important areas of study in the Reykjavik Declaration on Responsible Fisheries in the Marine Ecosystem. This is a declaration to which many countries including Iceland, Germany, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom are parties and which has been formally accepted by the Council of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. The research we are conducting on minke whales is an implementation of the words that are to be found in many international declarations and agreements, which speak of increasing ecosystem considerations in fisheries management. The research should increase our understanding of the whales' role in the marine ecosystem and thereby contribute to making sure our utilisation of marine resources is sustainable. Sustainability itself is naturally an important environmental objective everywhere. Iceland is so dependent on fisheries that for us sustainability is also of crucial importance for our continued economic well being.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Elections to the Icelandic parliament Althingi were held in May of this year, with their main result being that the government continued in office. What is perhaps most remarkable about the outcome is that the governing coalition parties, the Independence Party, of which I am a member, and the Progressive Party, are now commencing their third consecutive term in office. This has only once before occurred in Iceland, during the years 1959 to 1971. During the period the Independence and Progressive parties have been in power, extensive changes have taken place in Icelandic society; these two parties have practically revolutionised Icelandic society, not least with regard to the environment for business and industry. The state has step-by-step reduced its operations competing with private enterprise, the rules of the market economy have been simplified and made more transparent. Systematic efforts have been directed at lowering personal and corporate taxes. Corporate taxes, for instance, have been cut by almost half in recent years. We are convinced that actions of this sort encourage individual initiative, provide fertile soil for a dynamic industry and are each country's best defence against unemployment.

This does not mean, however, that good economic management in Iceland has enabled us to completely escape the economic downturn with which the global economy has been grappling since the burst of the dotcom bubble. Nonetheless, it is true that we have managed, without major economic fluctuations, to work our way out of the difficulties we faced when the period of contraction began. Unemployment rose temporarily; it is currently around 3%, after reaching a peak of 4% at the beginning of this year. Inflation, which has been a major threat in the past, is now running at 2%. Unlike many other nations, we have managed, during this period to have the National Treasury return a sizeable surplus.

The Icelandic economic outlook is therefore very positive. As our Minister of Finance has recently stated, we can expect sizeable economic growth in the near term. Both the government and the country's industry must take advantage of the upswing ahead to plant seeds which will give us a long-term harvest. The good years awaiting us will not last forever, and we must thus take measures to avoid major economic setbacks once the period of new heavy industrial projects now commencing has drawn to a close. I am convinced that expansion by Icelandic companies abroad and the major restructuring which is now taking place in business and industry in Iceland will help us to make this possible, and thus to look forward to the future with optimism.

Der Handel zwischen Deutschland und Island wächst von Jahr zu Jahr, doch trotz dieser Tatsache müssen wir weiterhin unser Bestes geben, um diese Beziehungen auszubauen und zu vertiefen. Unsere gemeinsame Aufgabe ist es, diesen Handel mit Rat und Tat zu fördern und zu erweitern, damit unsere wirtschaftlichen Beziehungen in der Zukunft auf einer noch breiteren Basis als bisher ausgebaut werden können. Es gibt viel mehr Möglichkeiten als wir ahnen.

Darf ich meinen aufrichtigen Wunsch zu Ausdruck bringen, dass der Handel zwischen unseren beiden Ländern blühen und gedeihen möge.

Ich wünsche Ihnen alles Gute.

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