EÒRPA ON BBC ALBA
Eòrpa - Wednesday 6 October, 8.30pm on BBC ALBA
Award-winning current affairs series, Eòrpa continues to bring viewers compelling stories on current issues from across Europe on BBC ALBA.
Topics which will be examined in next week’s programme will include a controversial power line running through the internationally renowned Hardangerfjord area in Norway as well as a report on the ongoing disputes over mackerel quotas between Iceland and EU countries, including Scotland.
Eòrpa reporter, Roddy Munro investigates the issues surrounding the new power line for which the Norwegian government has granted permission.
Hardangerfjord in the county of Hordaland in Norway is the third largest fjord in the world and the second largest in Norway. The Hardangerfjord and Hardangervidda is one of Europe's largest mountain plateaus particularly known for fruit tree blossoming in spring, the spectacular Folgefonna Glacier and Vøringsfossen Waterfall.
The government insists that the new line is vital to secure the future energy supply of the city of Bergen which was dangerously close to large-scale blackouts last winter. Activists claim that the government has a hidden agenda; the electrification of oil platforms and the export of energy from the country's vast renewable energy industry.
Arne Fykse, restaurateur and farmer said: “This gigantic network of pylons will stand for several hundred years. Our children will not experience nature as we did growing up. We have a duty to preserve untouched nature as it is.”
Reporting on the ongoing disputes over mackerel quotas, Iain Macinnes will give an account of the Icelandic and Faroese fishermen adamant that the quotas they awarded themselves this year are fair. However, Scottish fishermen, and the EU are concerned that the mackerel stocks could be put in danger if the current quota agreements continue.
Ahead of talks in London between the EU, Norway, Iceland, and the Faroes, Eòrpa visited Iceland to look at its expanding mackerel industry. In the East Fjords Iain Macinnes met fishermen and fish processors benefitting from the boom in mackerel.
Gunnþór Ingvason, a local fish processor, said: “Last year the minister dealt out a quota of 115,000 tons, and it was free, so called Olympic fishing, and we caught as much as we could, in competition with each other until the quotas were met, but now, this year the quota was dealt to the ships, so we have been controlling the fishing, catching it at the right time and because of that we have, managed to maximize the value of the catch.”
Eòrpa also met a Scottish Fisherman with over 40 years in the industry, Ernie Simpson, part-owner of the Fraserburgh-registered Christina S., Scotland's most modern pelagic trawler. Ernie is desperate to protect a stock they have nurtured over the past years.
Ernie said: “We get 90 odd percent of our earnings from mackerel. So it's very galling when someone tries to take what you’ve got. It doesn’t matter whether you are 60 odd or three years old, it doesn’t work the same. We’ve protected this species. We’ve made mistakes in the past but in the recent years, the past seven or eight years, that stock has been protected and it is now probably the most prolific stock in the North Atlantic, and it’s been well looked after and we don’t want to see anybody spoiling it.”
Produced by BBC Gàidhlig, Eòrpa will broadcast on BBC ALBA on Wednesday 6 October at 8.30pm and weekly thereafter. The programme will also be repeated on BBC Two and will be available on BBC iPlayer.