December 19th 2003“Outcome of December Council Meetings”
Following protracted negotiations the EU Council of Ministers finally reached agreement on a new package of fisheries measures this morning. As is usual at this time of year the Fisheries Ministers were involved in a marathon twenty hour session before the final package was decided.
Quotas for next year see increases in several key species off south west Ireland. According to Jason Whooley, manager of the Irish South and West Fishermens Organisation “We welcome the decision to significantly increase the quotas for Monkfish (32%), Megrim (26%) and Haddock (17%) for south western waters. The Minister is to be commended for ensuring that these quotas have returned to more realistic levels. The cut in Cod quotas for the Celtic Sea (- 6 %) however is a cause of concern and will affect a very vulnerable section of our fleet”.
The days-at-sea scheme first introduced last year has now been extended to the Irish Sea. Mr. Whooley had this to say on the development “The Commission days-at-sea scheme has already proven to be counter productive from a conservation viewpoint. A number of Countries however are over enthusiastic in their attempts to “appear” environmentally friendly and are prepared to overlook the drawbacks of the system. As a result Irish fishermen are going to suffer. Even those fishermen in areas where days-at-sea do not apply will be affected because fishing vessels will be diverted out of the affected areas. The Commission tried to lay foundations for days at sea for all waters off the Irish coast, thankfully their carte blanche approach was rejected. It is clear however, that the Commission agenda is to introduce days at sea to all Irish waters sooner rather than later. In general this Council presented a reasonable result for Ireland, it was a great example of the Minister, his Officials and Industry working closely together to achieve a result for Irish fishermen ”.
Species Change in VII Irish quotas relative to 2003 Monkfish + 32%, Haddock +17%, Megrim + 26%, Hake +9%, Herring (Celtic Sea) No Change, Cod -6%, Whiting -15%, Prawns -2%, Mackerel -5%, Horse Mackerel +1%, Blue Whiting +95%
19th December, 2003.
