Scottish fishing chiefs fear the Faroese fleet will continue to catch more herring than is safe after the Nordic country walked away from the latest efforts to broker an international quota deal.
The European Union, Iceland, Norway and Russia struck an agreement on 2014 catch limits for Atlanto-Scandian herring.
But Faroe risked causing further fury among partners in the shared stock by refusing to sign up to a deal.
The EU has ended up with 27,244 tonnes of the herring out of a total of 418,487 tonnes earmarked for total catches this year.
Announcing the figures, the European Commission (EC) said: ” Faroe was not in a position to come on board in this arrangement at this time.
“However, the other coastal states did agree to set aside a quantity of 21,594 tonnes for Faroe which is based on the sharing arrangement agreed in 2007.”
Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association chief executive Ian Gatt said: “It’s disappointing Faroe haven’t signed the agreement and instead will be announcing a unilateral TAC (total allowable catch) at some stage, which in all likelihood will be larger than their traditional share.”
Last year, Faroe sparked concerns about overfishing by giving itself an annual Atlanto-Scandian herring quota more than three times larger than its usual share.
A new ad-hoc arrangement for blue whiting has been agreed between the EU, Faroe, Iceland and Norway based on a TAC of 1.2million tonnes, including an EU share of 331,348 tonnes – nearly double its 2013 quota.
The EC said its higher blue whiting TAC reflected an improvement in fish numbers, but coastal states had also agreed to coordinate scientific research in order to improve the assessment and future management of the stock.
Mr Gatt said: “This fishery is drawing to a close but it’s been disappointing that much of the catch this year has been reduced to fishmeal.
“The usual human consumption market in Nigeria has been denied due to their government introducing a very restrictive policy on fish imports.
“It’s hoped this situation can be resolved sooner rather than later, and the pelagic sector seeks Scottish and UK government intervention to try and resolve the current embargo on imports.”