Ireland and Scotland insist EU stops fish quota swap deals with Norway

IRELAND and Scotland have insisted that the EU stops using their fish quotas in swap deals with Norway, and instead introduce a communal EU fish pool for future trading.

Ireland’s Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Sean Connick, told this week’s EU Council of Ministers in Brussels that the EU/Norway Fisheries Agreement unfairly discriminates against Ireland. Under this deal, the EU has been using fish stocks off the west coast of Ireland to buy cod from Norway. Mr Connick said this deal is of no benefit to Ireland and has called for the deal to be replaced by a system which is of equal benefit to all EU members.

This view is supported by Scotland’s Fisheries Minister, Richard Lochhead, who also wants an overhaul of the EU’s agreements with Norway.