Fiskmarkaður Íslands hf. and Reiknistofa fiskmarkaða hf., formerly Íslandsmarkaður hf., abused their dominant market position and thereby breached Article 11 of the Competition Act.

In its decision today, the Competition Authority concludes that Fiskmarkaður Íslands hf. (FÍ) abused its dominant market position by tying the purchase of fish to its gutting service, thereby distorting competition in the auction market for fishery products. Buyers of fish at the fish market, such as the complainant in the case, Frostfiskur ehf., were forced to purchase a service (gutting) they had not requested for the un gutted fish they had bought at the market. This distorted the normal competitive process in the auction market for fishery products. Furthermore, FÍ's conduct had a restrictive effect on the gutting market, as the fish purchased by fish buyers as ungutted was gutted at FÍ's gutting service. Consequently, FÍ's competitors in the gutting market were not given the opportunity to bid for the gutting of that fish. Furthermore, buyers of fish from companies that also provide a gutting service were unable to gut the fish themselves.

FÍ is to pay an administrative fine of kr. 10,000,000 (ten million króna) for the offence.
It is also the conclusion of the Competition Authority that Reiknistofa fiskmarkaða hf. (RFS) breached Article 11 of the Competition Act by placing the complainant in the case, Frostfisk ehf., on a blacklist for an unpaid slating debt, as a company on the blacklist was excluded from trading on RFS's Fiskanet until the debt had been paid. Therefore, the authority's assessment is that this constituted an unlawful act by RSF which could have distorted competition in the relevant market. However, it should be noted that the legal framework for RSF's activities is somewhat unclear, and therefore the supervisory authority considers that there is no basis for fining RSF for the association's breaches.

DecisionNo. 27/2008.