Fish quotas deal - A good catch

Irish fishermen deserve credit for helping to conclude a deal with the EU commission on quotas by exercising restraint and commonsense.

An initiative from the Irish fishing industry to use new gear that will allow more young fish to escape and reduce discards greatly assisted in getting EU proposed cuts reduced.

It meant that negotiations over fish quotas for 2015 ended in Brussels with a more favourable outcome than expected for Irish fishermen.

The EU Commission had been proposing very sharp cuts to Irish quotas, including a 20% reduction in whitefish quota and a 14% reduction in prawn quotas.

In fact, the prawn quota has been increased by 3%, while the hake quota has also seen an 11% increase. However, quotas for haddock and whiting have both been reduced by 12%, with a 13% reduction in cod quota.

The quotas which have now been agreed will be worth €123m to Irish whitefish fishermen next year, which is a small increase on this year.