Reykjavík Grapevine - 19.11.2018, Qupperneq 4

What Are Icelanders
Talking About?
Probably the weather, but what else?
Words: Claudia Schultz Photo: Stock
Way up in the West-
fjörds, someone stole a
yacht and attempted to sail it out
of national waters. The yacht was
reported missing to the police,
who in turn contacted the Icelan-
dic Coast Guard. A deployed heli-
copter intercepted the yacht in
Breiðafjörður and directed it to
the nearest port, which was Rif
in Snæfellsnes. The suspect is
currently in police custody, but it is
still unknown what the motivation
behind this crime was. The only
certainty is that a brand-new yacht
was probably not the best choice of
boats to steal.
What is the minimum wage in
Iceland? Well it might soon be a
bit higher than it is at the moment.
With the minimum wage currently
sitting at 300,000 ISK, the Federa-
tion of General and Special Work-
ers in Iceland other labour unions
have expressed support for the
fight to raise the minimum wage to
425,000 ISK. The managing direc-
tor of the Confederation of Icelan-
dic Enterprise, Halldór Benjamín
Þorbergsson, generally agrees with
the demands. Nevertheless, he also
stated that the situation needs to
be investigated before making any
promises. Anyway, it seems that
there could be a possible agree-
ment between labour and manage-
ment eventually, raising the wages.
One of Iceland’s main economic
sectors, fishing, has undergone a
major change recently. Two salmon
farming companies in the Westf-
jords, which were granted licenses
under the Aquaculture Act for a
17,500-ton sea farm were granted
in December 2017, had their ‘exclu-
sivity’ revoked just ten months
later. The main reasons given by
the Environmental and Natural
Resources Board of Appeal for
taking such an action is to prevent
issues concerning biodiversity.
However, the possession of a
permanent license is still not out of
reach. Companies receive a tempo-
rary permit, which can transition
into a permanent licences when all
the necessary requirements have
been met, according to Kristján Þór
Júlíusson, Minister of Fisheries and
Agriculture.
The accusations of sexual assault
made against Sigúr Ros drummer
Orri Páll Dýrason by artist Megan
Boyd managed to flare up again.
The musician’s lawyer went public
with a letter to Stundin, an Icelan-
dic bi-weekly newspaper, trying to
get an interview with Boyd banned.
However, this attempt did the
opposite of the intended. Not only
did Stundin publish the interview
anyway, but Orri’s spin on the news
cycle picked up speed. It remains to
be seen what happens next. Surely
the public is highly interested.
Finally, a cat named Pál
Dánielsdóttir living in Fosshotel
Hellnar, located on the Snæfells-
nes peninsula, is gaining inter-
net fame. Being responsible for
mousekeeping, Pál warms the
hearts of both guests and staff. Her
Hungarian owners know about the
immense cuteness they offer to
whoever visits the hotel and there-
fore it seemed inevitable to give
little Pál her own staff card.
4The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 19— 2018First
A fish farm—an unlikely flashpoint in the news
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EDITORIAL INTERN
Claudia Schultz
Mulan

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