Section of white fish industry ‘will be wiped out’
Representatives of the industry are meeting the EU’s Fishing Commissioner, Joe Borg, today in Brussels to highlight their concerns.
They will be joined by three Fianna Fáil MEPs, who maintain that the fish quota proposals for next year do not make sense. Billed as a crisis meeting, the fishing representatives say the cuts are not merited in many instances and in some others they query the way the commission arrived at their decision.
Their objections come ahead of the annual quota fixing meeting that begins on December 17 and normally lasts for three days during which countries try to get as much fishing quota for their industry as possible.
MEP Sean Ó Neachtáin has warned that under the present proposals fishing in the area north-west of Ireland and west of Scotland will be among those worst hit.
A member of the parliament’s fisheries committee says the plan seeks to eliminate the fishing of white fish in this area, including cod, haddock and whiting.
“We have to strike a balance between protecting fish stocks and ensuring a viable livelihood for Irish fishermen and their families, but the commission’s proposals do not achieve this purpose,” he said.
MEP Brian Crowley described the proposed cut as savage, while Liam Aylward said the planned 15% reduction in the prawn quota in Irish waters was totally unacceptable.
The president of the Federation of Irish Fishermen, Gerard O’Flynn, said the proposal to ban white fishing off the north-west was most alarming. He said it was announced without going through the normal consultation process and there was no evidence of any socioeconomic impact study being carried out.
“Should this proposal become reality it will wipe out a large section of the white fish industry off the north coast of Ireland,” he warned.
Proposals to cut the prawn quota — an important area for Irish fishermen — were unnecessary as the stock is in a good state, Mr O’Flynn said. He blamed the decision on the commission applying a rule relating to the averaging of catches that he described as bizarre.
A proposal to apply quotas to ray and skate off the north-west and in the Irish Sea was not unreasonable, said Mr O’Flynn, but the fishermen warn that the method proposed — tying it to rules on by-catches — does not make sense and will cause huge problems.
Proposed cuts in herring fishing and horse mackerel should be in line with scientific assessment, but the fishermen disagree with the way the commission reached its assessment.
They are also concerned about the Hague preferences — a formula agreed 32 years ago that gives Ireland an additional share on top of the quotas agreed each year. The federation warns that other member states may attack them at the December meeting.
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