Irish fishermen win EU battle to protect fish stocks

IRISH fishermen were celebrating the closure of a large chunk of their fishing waters off the south east coast of Ireland last night.

Their response was in contrast to many other EU fishermen battling to increase their quota of fish at the marine ministers’ meeting in Brussels.

The large chunk of sea between Ireland and Britain will be closed for three months from January 1 when the fish are spawning.

Fishermen from other countries, including Spain, France, Belgium and Britain, have agreed to recognise the ban and yesterday the European Commission and fishing ministers gave it their blessing.

Fishermen’s representative Jason Whooley said it will cut the amount of cod alone taken from the area for the year by 20%, and others like whiting, haddock and plaice by about 10%.

“It’s an extremely significant move and revolutionary for the industry,” said Mr Whooley of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Association.

The closing of the area between the Cornish coast and the south west of Ireland came from the fishing industry itself as part of a plan to allow fish stocks to recover and improve fishermen’s livelihoods in the future.

Many species, but especially cod, are dangerously low due to over-fishing and environmental reasons.

“This is not a top-down decision. We have planned this ourselves for the past 12 months,” said Mr Whooley, who added that because there has been no political interference, no country insisted on opting out of the scheme.

Marine Minister Pat the Cope Gallagher was among the EU ministers negotiating late into the night in Brussels.

While next year’s quotas for fish such as monk, haddock, cod and hake were increased, quotas for mackerel and herring will be reduced by around 20%.

Meanwhile in a Brussels hotel, fishing interests from France, Britain and Ireland that will be involved in the new North Western Waters Regional Advisory Committee next year were having what they called a shadow meeting.

Long favoured by the Irish industry, the European Commission adopted the plan last year to set up such committees.

This one, covering the waters from the Bay of Biscay to Donegal and western Scotland, will have 16 stakeholder members and eight non fishing people, including environmentalists. Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) will provide the secretariat for the Committee.