The Faroes now have a new Fisheries Minister, his predecessor was deemed disqualified from administering too many areas of fisheries affairs. The new minister has experience from two previous terms in this office
Ever since the new Faroese Government took office in November, controversy has raged about the Minister of Fisheries, Jákup Mikkelsen, because he was considered unfit to oversee too many affairs in his portfolio.
The disqualifying factor is that his brother-in-law is one of the biggest players in Faroese fisheries, which, along with ocean aquaculture, is the predominant industry in the Faroes.
The disqualification, which has received a great deal of media attention practically throughout the new Government’s term in office, hampered administration in the Ministry of Fisheries as certain areas had to be transferred to the Prime Minister himself, Kaj Leo Johannesen.
The Prime Minister eventually concluded that the situation was untenable and therefore relieved Jákup Mikkelsen of his duties.
The new Minister of Fisheries is Jacob Vestergaard (photo), who has previously held the office under two different governments.
The first major task facing the new Fisheries Minister is to fix the valuable mackerel quota and establish a system for allocating it among the different Faroese vessel categories.
