Countries can however only do so much to secure by themselves sustainable management of their marine living resources. In Iceland, we know all too well that our livelihood and our ability to use our fisheries sustainably depends not only on our own efforts but also on international circumstances. It is worth mentioning here a few important international obstacles and challenges.

The first one would be transboundary marine pollution. Consumers are becoming increasingly more health conscious. It is evident that fish coming from contaminated waters does not sell well on the market. Of more concern, however, is that consumers do often not make distinction as to from where the seafood comes from. Thus generally speaking, increasing marine pollution affects the sales of all marine products. Some pollution, moreover, has negative effects on the marine stocks themselves. By causing devaluation of seafood, marine pollution threatens the sustainability of countries and communities that rely on legitimate uses of the marine environment.

The second issue is the global market. It is of course of fundamental importance whether the global market is conducive to sustainable fisheries or whether it works against sustainable fisheries. Because countries that depend heavily on exports are heavily vulnerable to the perils of the global market.

Poor market access for seafood in the form of high tariffs can have negative effects on resource management. High tariffs reduce revenue to the fishing operations, which the operations seek to meet by increasing supply, often fishing beyond the carrying capacity of the stocks.

Government subsidies can also have serious consequences for resource management. In the case of fisheries, it is known that fisheries subsidies are the primary cause of the over-capacity and the over-fishing of the global fishing fleet.

Government subsidies also create supply distortions that place downward pressures on world seafood prices. Such circumstances provide for constant pressure on the domestic fisheries sector and through it on the government to increase supply, notably by allowing more fishing, to the detriment of fish stocks and marine biological diversity.

A third and final factor worth mentioning are unilateral and arbitrary measures, such as boycotts and threats of boycotts, taken by non-governmental organizations, corporations or governments in the name of environmental protection, often without any regard to facts and scientific data. Such actions threaten the sustainability of countries and communities that rely on legitimate uses of the marine environment.

The experience of Iceland has shown, that Sustainable fisheries are possible. Domestic requirements include: - Control over the resource - Effective management which is at once economically as well as ecologically efficient International conditions - Protection of the marine environment from pollution - Global market conducive to sustainable development - Prevention of unilateral and arbitrary measures.