MP To Make Millions Off Fishing Bill

The wife of a Progressive MP stands to make millions from a bill her husband is partially responsible for crafting. Another Progressive, on the party’s Fishing Committee, also stands to gain.

Vísir reports that the wife of Progressive MP Páll Jóhann Pálsson owns a fishing company which stands to receive a mackerel quota worth 50 million ISK if a new bill from the Ministry of Fisheries on mackerel fishing is passed. Páll sits on the Industrial Affairs Committee, which is partially responsible for crafting the legislation.

At the same time, Davíð Freyr Jónsson, also of the Progressive Party and sits on that party’s Fishing Committee, is the owner of a boat that stands to triple its quota if the same bill is passed. That quota is valued at about 200 million ISK.

When asked if he felt there might be a conflict of interest at play, Páll dismissed these concerns.

“No, I do not consider myself unfit [to work with this bill],” he told reporters. “I have a lot of knowledge of fishing that I could share with parliament.”

Fjóla GK, the boat owned by Davíð, has already fished the most mackerel of all handline boats from 2009 to 2014. Still, the bill’s passage will more than triple the boat’s quota from the year previous.