Minister for the Marine Simon Coveney has said he is “delighted" at the outcome of negotiations on EU fish catch allocations which ended in Brussels in the early hours of this morning.
Mr Coveney said the negotiations delivered his key priorities "and will allow the Irish fishing fleet to look forward to 2012 with optimism".
"The measures agreed in these negotiations will maximise employment and economic activity in our coastal communities,” the Minister said.
He said the immediate reopening of Irish Sea prawn fishery and an increase in quotas will push the total value of next year’s fishing opportunities to a record level of €250m.
Mr Coveney said he was "satisfied" that 141,000 tonnes of pelagic and tuna quotas and 36,000 tonnes of whitefish secured at the talks "will provide an excellent range of opportunities for our fishing industry in 2012.”
Despite criticism by environmental groups that the deal would hamper EU efforts to put an end to decades of overfishing the Federation of Irish Fishermen (FIF) welcomed the outcome of the talks saying the majority of the most serious cuts were overturned "using scientific analysis and sound argument".
The FIF said it had been assured that Ireland's position regarding fishing opportunities in the Irish sea "is to be restored to the original share".
"The outcome for most species is fortunately a world away from the bizarre initial proposals but the Irish industry can ill-afford any of the quota cuts which were imposed on Monkfish (-5 per cent) and Megrim (-25 per cent), and we still maintain that there were arbitary and unjustified," Federation chairman Seán O'Donoghue said today.
The European Commission had recommended cuts in certain stocks which could translate into a €60 million to €65 million loss in earnings for the Irish fleet if implemented.
Mr Coveney welcomed the reopening of the Irish Sea prawn fishery which was due to remain closed until February but will now reopen after additional entitlements were secured for the Irish fleet.
Mr Coveney recognised the position in relation to cod in the Irish Sea and accepted the proposal to reduce the TAC (total allowable catch) for 2012 by 25 per cent.
“This approach is consistent with scientific advice and adherence with the Long Term Management Plan, which is designed to ensure that the stock recovers to sustainable levels in the future. This is vitally important from both an industry and conservation perspective.”
Industry representatives who were working with Mr Coveney’s negotiating team had previously said that a “discredited” Irish Sea cod recovery programme that involved a 25 per cent cut in available fishing days must be resisted.
Mr Coveney said the commission accepted the strong case he made for an increase in quotas for haddock and whiting in the Celtic Sea of 25 per cent and 15 per cent respectively which he said “were entirely justified" based on scientific data he presented to the commission.
The original commission proposal was for a 25 per cent reduction in both stocks. The increases in these quotas would be worth an extra €3.5 million to the south coast fishing industry, Mr Coveney said.
The Minister described the council as “very challenging” and said his priority from the outset "was to achieve an outcome that protected the Irish fishing industry while respecting the most up-to-date scientific data for priority stocks of critical importance to our fleets.”
