• EU goes to battle against Iceland in 'mackerel war'

REYKJAVIK (AFP) - Iceland's unilateral decision to hike its mackerel quota was "completely justified," a spokesman for the fisheries ministry said Tuesday, adding Iceland was never subject to a mackerel limit.

The European Union's fisheries chief Maria Damanaki said on Monday she was ready to battle Iceland and the Faroe Islands for unilaterally raising their mackerel quotas in their row with the bloc dubbed the "mackerel war."

"Iceland has never been subject to a quota, and as a coastal state, we can set our own limits. Iceland's demands are completely justified," Johann Gudmundsson of the agriculture and fisheries ministry told AFP.

Iceland's ministry of fisheries and agriculture argued Iceland had unilateraly raised its quota this year because no global agreement on the mackeral stock had been reached.

"One should refrain from attempting to make Iceland and the Faroe Islands particularly responsible for this as the EU and Norway are no less responsible," it said in a statement.

Negotiations for a long-term deal are due to resume in October.

Saying climate warming has affected the migration of fish, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, an autonomous Danish province, raised their mackerel quota to 130,000 tonnes and 85,000 tonnes, respectively for this year.

The moves angered Scottish and Norwegian fishermen and the international environmental group WWF says the hike is way above levels deemed safe for the survival of the fish.

Gudmundsson rejected the claim and added the dispute was unrelated to Iceland's EU application.