‘Fishing jobs under threat from over-fishing by Iceland and Faroes’

FISHING jobs in the west of Ireland are under threat from irresponsible and damaging over-fishing of mackerel by Iceland and the Faroe Islands, Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney has warned.

In a motion to be debated by European Agriculture Ministers at an EU Fisheries Council meeting today in Brussels, Minister Coveney is calling for strong sanctions to defend Irish interests in the common mackerel fish stock in Irish, Norwegian and European waters.

Minister Coveney said: “The time for inaction is over and there is an immediate need, supported by member states for legislation to be adopted this autumn. If left unchecked, this level of fishing by Iceland and Faroes will have a detrimental impact on the health of the mackerel stock which is, economically, Ireland’s most important fishing resource.

“Iceland, for the last three years and the Faroe Islands for the last two, have been operating unilaterally and their fishing levels, which will come to over 300,000 tonnes this year, are completely unsustainable and outside of normal internationally recognised management protocols. The result of the Icelandic and Faroes overfishing is that almost one million tonnes of mackerel will be fished this year, 50% more than the scientifically advised maximum out-take from the stock.”

Minister Coveney said any further EU inaction would see a dramatic reduction of quotas to Irish vessels and to the supply of mackerel to Irish fish factories. The behaviour of Iceland and the Faroes will do economic damage, with loss of jobs in the north-west and south-west of Ireland, Minister Coveney said.

Attempts by the EU and Norway over the last number of years to bring Iceland and the Faroe islands into a fair and sustainable management framework for mackerel have failed.

The council will also discuss methods for setting fishing levels for 2012. On the Commission’s proposals, the minister said: “I want coherent and scientifically informed arrangements put in place to determine 2012 fishing levels and to sustain our fishing industry and coastal communities.”

The minister plans to meet the Scottish and English fisheries ministers, Richard Lockhead and Richard Benyon.

The meetings will focus on issues of common interest and the mackerel over-fishing by Iceland and the Faroes.