Holm asserts vessels not fishing mackerel should not sell mackerel in Norway

Dennis Holm asserts that vessels not engaged in mackerel fishing should not have mackerel to sell. He describes this as pure support that needs to cease. Holm has maintained this position since he took office as the Minister for Fisheries in December 2022.

However, no progress has been made on this issue. Holm states that he is waiting for Ruth Vang, the Minister of Finance, to amend the law regarding taxation on the final transfer of quotas.

This legislation stipulates that a special tax must be paid on profits when quotas are transferred permanently. This system was established when quotas became tradable during Jacobi Vestergaard’s tenure as Minister from 2020 to 2022.

To ensure the country benefits from profits when quotas, granted for free, are sold, a special tax on these profits must be imposed. This was the intent behind the law, although exceptions exist.

Holm believes that those who received 10-year mackerel quotas should be forced to transfer them permanently instead of selling them annually, thus exempting them from the current special tax rules related to permanent transfers.

Despite the fact that this matter has been on Ruth Vang’s desk for an extended period, she has taken no action to address it.

“There is still no agreement on whether the mackerel support should be phased out—the issue has not been fully discussed,” says Ruth Vang.