Warnings of fish stock extinction after EU deal

OVER the next six months up to 10% of Ireland’s fishing fleet will be decommissioned in one of the most drastic changes to the country’s fishing industry in modern times.

Declining fish stocks and the sudden and dramatic rise in the price of oil are to blame for this change which will affect the 15,000 employed in the industry including 6,000 working on board the country’s fleet of 1,400 vessels.

The industry is worth about €380 million a year to the country’s economy but is vitally important for Ireland’s most economically disadvantaged regions along the west coast.

The annual fish council in Brussels has just finished its negotiations with Marine Ministers from the European Union’s member states, doing battle with the European Commission for a larger share of quota for its fishermen.

Conservationists and scientists criticise the process and its results and many say this year’s deal is no different. Despite 80% of commercial fish species in EU waters now below safe biological limits or classified as being at risk of over fishing, the recommendations of the scientists have been ignored in many respects.

Charlotte Morgensen of WWF said, “If the EU continues this madness of setting quotas above what the species can support, other fish stocks will follow the same route to collapse as cod in the North Sea.”

They wanted a blanket ban on the fishing of cod and have warned once again that the fish that was once the staple of the fish n chips dish is on the verge of extinction on this side of the Atlantic.

There were significant changes in the deal done this year following on from the revised EU fisheries policy agreed three years ago, and this was reflected in the response of the Irish fishing industry.

Last year and this they have declared themselves happy with the outcome. The reasons include a new system that sees the industry fully involved and taking responsibility for conservation and having its advice heeded.

Jason Whooley of the South and West Fishermen’s Organisation welcomes the change and says EU policies over the past 20 years are to blame for the now perilous state of the industry and the decline of fish stocks.

“There was a very poor approach by the European Commission and they used a very crude instrument of quotas to manage the industry. The December meeting was all about quota and the member states were just playing the system, objecting to some proposals and accepting others just to gain support for their own interests,” he said.

Each year based on scientific advice the Commission sets out the total tonnage for each species they believe can be fished in the coming year in safety. Countries are allocated their share based on their previous year’s quota.

These days, management instruments are becoming more diversified with all the elements being taken into account, such as fishing gear because some like gill nets can empty out an area of all its fish; days spent at sea because its easier to control and police than inspecting every catch landed; and closure of whole fishing grounds during specifically sensitive times such as when the fish are spawning and beginning to grow.

Banning fishermen taking a species like cod from the sea is not sufficient to save the fish since fishing nets are indiscriminate and simply scoop out whatever fish are in the area. As a result when fishing for haddock, fishermen can take a lot of cod and to ensure they are not breaking the rules, they simply throw them back into the sea.

“We are getting a more sensible approach now but we have a lot more to do too,” said Mr Whooley.