Irish fishermen facing 15% cut in EU quotas next year
Irish fishermen are facing further reductions in their quotas next year following a deal agreed by EU fisheries ministers in the early hours of this morning.
The minister agreed to a 15% reduction in cod quotas in the North Sea, the Irish Sea and off the west coast of Scotland.
The measure was prompted by scientific evidence showing that cod stocks in some areas are dangerously close to collapse.
The problem is so bad that the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea had recommended the complete closure of some North Sea fishing grounds.
However, the British presidency of the EU said it believed it had achieved a balance between the needs of conservation and the survival of fishing communities.
Elsewhere, fishermen are also facing a 15% reduction herring and whiting quotas, but t he ministers agreed a 30% increase in North Sea prawn quotas, a 5% rise in Irish Sea monkfish and a 3% increase in permitted hake catches.
The number of days that fishermen can spend at sea, however, is to be reduced by a further 5% from the current limit of 180.
