The awarding of the contract for the supply of a new vessel monitoring system (VMS) for the entire United Kingdom fishing fleet by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to an Icelandic electronics company, Reykjavik-based Trackwell has raised questions in the UK, given the current fractured nature of the relationship between the UK and Iceland at a time when a potential ban on all Icelandic fish products might be introduced as a result of the impasse over management of North Atlantic mackerel stocks.

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