The second round of international negotiations on the 2019 Mackerel Quotas for the stock in the North East Atlantic will take place in the National Seafood Centre in Clonakilty, County Cork.
The return on the negations was welcomed by the Minister for Agriculture, Food & the Marine, Michael Creed, as they follow on from an initial round of negotiations in London in October.
The negotiations involve eleven EU and non-EU countries, and are being hosted on behalf of the EU by the Department of Agriculture.
Mackerel Quota
Mackerel is Ireland’s single most important fishery economically, according to the Minister, and this year’s negotiations face new challenges given that the new scientific advice is for a reduction in quotas of 61%.
There are concerns from the scientific community about the quality of that advice but the Minister said that we need to take full account of all of the available information.
“These negotiations will be very difficult. The proposed 61% cut in the Mackerel Quota for 2019 would be very significant for our fishing industry along the western seaboard, particularly in Donegal, Galway, Kerry & Cork,” the Minister said.
“Ireland is committed to the long-term sustainability of this stock and has worked hard, to date to get a more graduated response to the scientific advice, taking account of the fact that this will be subject to a full review and quality assurance early in early 2019”.
Delegations from Ireland, the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Greenland & the Faeroe Islands will try and reach an agreement on the total allowable catch (TAC) for mackerel for 2019. Up to 50 international delegates are expected in West Cork for the three-day negotiations.
“The fact that these negotiations are being facilitated by my Department in Ireland underlines the economic importance of this stock to the Irish fishing industry,” the Minister concluded.
“Mackerel is the single most valuable stock for the Irish fleet, and indeed the EU as a whole, and it is very much in our interests that we secure agreement at international level on management arrangements and catch levels for this stock.”
Mackerel is concentrated in the waters of the North Eastern Atlantic and is a highly migratory stock which necessitates negotiations between relevant parties (‘Coastal States’) on how best to manage a shared resource in a sustainable manner.
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
