Fishing fleets face more cuts in cod catches next year following a new European deal struck in Brussels in the early hours of this morning.
However, the Minister for the Marine, Pat 'The Cope' Gallagher, has hailed the deal as a success. He said his negotiating team had secured increases in quotas for Irish fishermen.
Ministers from 25 member states finally broke up talks at 3am after concluding the deal.
Fisheries organisations have welcomed the deal, but environmental groups will say that the fishing regime for next year does not go far enough to help depleted fish stocks recover.
Irish fishermen had been facing cuts of 15% across the range in whitefish stocks; there are such cuts in cod and haddock in the Irish Sea and for whiting in the Celtic Sea.
But these have been offset by gains. There are increases in the herring catch in the north, south, and northwest, and a 15% increase in the prawn quota, which is the most valuable commodity for Irish fishermen.
There is also a 5% increase for monkfish. However, a ban on deep sea gill nets is to be enforced.
The minister claimed the overall package would deliver increases of 15% in quotas which he said would still allow fish stocks to recover.
He also said that the regional advisory councils, set up earlier this year to allow the opinions of fishing organisations to filter in to the decision-making process, have begun to bear fruit.
Speaking on RTÉ radio's Morning Ireland, Mr Gallagher said it was up to the industry to judge the merits of the package.
