Editorial: Homemade Icelandic Neocolonialism

The issue’s main feature chronicles the story of Samherji, one of Iceland’s biggest fisheries, and its conduct in Namibia, where, instead of buying fishing quotas at market price, they bribed officials to get a lower price.

Admittedly, this is not an uncommon practice by wealthy Western companies and individuals when conducting business in former colonial countries, as was pointed out by Iceland’s finance minister back in 2019 when the Samherji bribery scandal originally broke.

Multiple companies use shady business practices to get their hands on the natural resources of countries around the world. Shell’s operations in Nigeria come to mind. So do some of  Rio Tinto’s global operations, including in Iceland.

However, what is different here is that Samherji’s practices are not as much an imitation of foreign practices as they reflect what Samherji learned at home. Having acquired fishing licenses without paying what would generally be considered a fair price, nor being taxed adequately for their use of Iceland’s most important natural resource, Samherji simply practiced abroad what the company did at home: not paying a fair market price for fishing quotas. More on that here.

In essence, we Icelanders managed to exploit ourselves in a similar vein to how international corporations exploit whole landmasses. We did it to ourselves.

The wealth this created for many individuals has subsequently been turned into power and influence. Owners of companies like Samherji and others like them have invested heavily in unrelated ventures domestically and internationally, funnelled money into the media, and poured their finances into politics — ways to ensure that the government does not increase taxes on fisheries and does not interfere with their liberal use of Iceland’s common resources.

For decades, this has worked astonishingly well. This year, however, it looks like the new coalition government will legally be able to increase the fees the fisheries pay to the state. Since such a bill was introduced in March, it has been fought against at every level and junction by the interests at play. In an attempt to filibuster, the bill’s initial parliamentary discussion set a new record, taking a total of 30 hours to complete.

This may be the first of more laws aimed at curbing the profits and power of the biggest fisheries in Iceland, but will they be passed, and will they work? Will charges eventually be brought against Samherji? Or have our very own oligarchs become too strong to curb?

For more, read our cover feature here. JTS

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