Fishing industry condemns EU limits

FISHERMEN are facing further serious cutbacks in the amount and species of fish they can catch next year under European Commission proposals.

The Irish fishing fleet is in the middle of rationalisation, with a third of the fleet being taken out of commission with the help of €42 million from the EU.

The industry called the proposals reckless, while Fine Gael’s fisheries spokesman Michael Creed warned it could spell the end of the road for many fishermen.

The commission says the cuts are essential if the stocks are to recover and provide a livelihood for fishermen in the future. They warn that stocks of cod, haddock and whiting are overfished in the area west of Scotland and that catches have fallen steeply over the last 10 years as a result.

Scientists say these fish need a breathing space to rebuild, which means a halt on fishing them, which will have an impact on Irish fishermen.

Instead, the commission proposes the fishermen use gear that lets these fish escape and instead catches prawns and anglerfish, which they say are the most valuable part of the fishery.

Levels of cod stocks are still very low in most areas, though there is an increase of young fish in the North Sea and these must be protected so they can spawn.

They want to see a 25% cut in quotas and fishing intensity in whitefish and in herring in west Scotland and a 7% increase in North Sea sole.

The commission also proposes changing the days-at-sea system for cod fisheries, which they say has not been successful in reducing catches mainly because of the large number of exceptions member states insisted on.

Instead, they want to introduce a kilowatt-day ceiling that would let member states decide on a balance between fleet capacity and fishing opportunity, and fine tune it according to fish catches.

These proposals will be finally decided upon by the member states when their fisheries ministers meet over the coming weeks and haggle over the figures.

For the past 12 months Ireland retained most of its 2007 quota, despite the commission seeking a 25% reduction — something that was criticised by conservation groups as being short-sighted.

The Federation of Irish Fishermen denounced the scale of cuts proposed for next year and called on the Government to resist them.