The Minister for Agriculture, Food, and the Marine, Michael Creed, has said that the annual EU fisheries negotiations in Brussels on fishing quota pose significant challenges for the Irish industry.
According to the Irish Examiner, Creed is preparing for a tough outcome from the latest EU fisheries round in Brussels.
“If the commission’s quota proposals remain unchanged, we are facing a very challenging situation for 2019, particularly in the context of the full implementation of the landing obligation or ‘discards ban’,” he said.
Fishing Quotas
Creed is worried about the commission’s plans to reduce Celtic Sea cod by 58%, Celtic Sea haddock by 14% and to reduce prawns by 32%.
“I am very concerned about the level of cuts proposed for our whitefish and prawn fisheries and the implications of some of these for the effective roll out of the landing obligation,” he said.
Creed said he will attempt to persuade the commission to apply the available scientific advice in a balanced and practical manner.
He added that they need to work with the fishing industry to help prevent the discarding of marketable and juvenile fish.
“Some of the commission’s novel proposals are not in the interest of the Irish fishing industry and are not fully justified by the scientific advice. I will be focusing my attention on those,” he said.
© 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.
