Fishermen may ask Govt for hardship fund

The Government may be asked to make hardship funds available for cod fishermen.

The European Commission is replacing year-on-year negotiations on catch quotas with cod-fishing limits in an attempt to conserve the species.

EU countries will be given an amount of "kilowatt days" - established by multiplying the boat's engine power by the days spent fishing - to distribute among the fleet.

Frank Doyle of the Irish Fisherman's Organisation suggested this afternoon that the Government may be forced to make money available to hardship cases.

"We'd have to determine the size and scope of the impact of these measures, what impact they would have and try to put some parameters to it," he said.

Mr Doyle stated: "We'd also have to see what's required. We could talk about dealing with it on a practical basis and putting something to the Government in relation to the problem that exists. But we don't know the size or scope of the nature of these problems at this moment in time."