With fishermen warning of a 45% cut in their income and the loss of 600 jobs if proposed cuts go ahead, Fisheries Minister Simon Coveney is hoping to gradually introduce the cuts over three years.

A compromise deal to shake up Europe’s controversial fisheries policy was hailed today as bringing real benefits for fishermen – if it wins approval from MEPs.

The European Commission today warned that nothing short of a completely new fisheries management system would halt years of dangerously depleted stocks and get the struggling fishing industry back on its feet.

GREENPEACE says fisheries ministers, who began their annual three-day meeting in Brussels to decide the fish take for the coming year, should close most fisheries.