Experts want ban on cod, whiting and hake fishing

EXPERTS want a total ban on cod, whiting and hake fishing in the Irish Sea, a measure that would affect about a fifth of the Irish fishing industry.

But fishermen condemned the advice as ridiculous, and a charter for dumping fish at sea.

ICES, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, in a preliminary report issued yesterday, warns that whiting stocks are just a quarter of what they should be, cod is at 60%, while hake in the northern part is down by a fifth.