Fishermen warn quota will lead to job cuts and income losses

Fishermen are warning that up to 600 jobs will be lost in the sector and their incomes will halve if they are forced to cut the amount of fish they can catch next year.

Fisheries Minister Simon Coveney said he will battle to reverse the proposed cuts when he meets EU ministers in Brussels today to set the total allowable catch for each member state.

All member states agreed to end over-fishing by 2015 or delaying it to 2020 at the latest, when the economic sustainability of the fishing fleets would be seriously jeopardised.