December 17, 2014 — Ireland has successfully resisted radical cuts in key whitefish quotas, following a deal brokered by Minister for the Marine Simon Coveney at the EU Agrifish council in Brussels.
Mr Coveney has said the deal, worth €123 million, represented a “much improved outcome” over original “very worrying” European Commission proposals.
The Federation of Irish Fishermen (FIF) has said that the outcome was still “disappointing” for vessels fishing the Celtic Sea for cod, whiting and haddock.
Significantly, the Irish quota for prawns – the fleet’s second most important fishery – has been increased by a marginal 3 per cent.
The European Commission had been proposing quota reductions of 14 per cent for prawns, along with a 64 per cent cut for cod, 41 per cent for haddock, 20 per cent for pollack, skate and ray, 14 per cent for whiting, 12 per cent for monkfish and four per cent for hake.
Mr Coveney had said he faced his “most serious” council ever, and the Irish industry had warned that the European Commission’s proposals could cost up to 600 full and part-time jobs around the coast.
Read the full story from The Irish Times