Fishermen oppose cod fishing ban

The Irish Fisherman's Organisation (IFO) has criticised calls for a complete ban on cod fishing in the Irish Sea in an effort to replenish stocks of the species.

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea has recommended the measure due to worryingly low levels of cod stocks.

However, the IFO has claimed that the a fishing ban would not replenish stocks and would be unworkable.

Spokesman Frank Doyle said: "A complete ban would be difficult, I think, insofar as it would probably lead to a significant element of fish being caught anyway as a by-catch.

"These, in turn, would have to be dumped and I'm not sure that the end result would be a whole lot better than having a limited fishery, but a tightly controlled fishery."