PERSISTENT grumbling over EU fisheries policy switched this week from the open seas to the narrower confines of fish breeding pens. Scottish and Irish producers of farmed salmon are pressing hard for retaliatory action against Norway, the world's biggest producer, claiming the Norwegians are flooding the European market and depressing prices. The Commission is considering imposing an average duty of 13.7 per cent on Norway's farmed salmon imports, accusing producers of receiving state subsidies and dumping fish at less than the cost of production.

However many EU members, most of them non-salmon producers, are less than enthusiastic about the proposed sanctions and seek a negotiated settlement. Norway, which rejected EU membership by referendum in 1994, is part of the 18-nation European Economic Area and exports around £800 million of salmon to the Community.

The EU initiated an investigation in September after complaints from Scottish producers, has the power to impose provisional duties without the consent of member states. Expect some more muddying of the waters before agreement is reached on this sensitive issue.