Fishermen to net €20m from new EU haul quotas

IRISH fishermen are confident of hauling in an extra €14 million to €20m in 2007 following annual quota-fixing talks in Brussels which ended early yesterday.

The industry was boosted by increases in the three most important commercial species — monkfish (+7%), hake (+20%) and prawns (+17%) — which will contribute significantly to projected landings totalling about €250m next year.

The stage is now set for a complete restructuring of the Irish fishing fleet on foot of the review due to be published early in January when the total number of vessels is expected to be reduced from 250 to 150.