Fish producers are calling on the European Commission to ban Norway from fishing in Irish waters following "undue pressure" on mackerel stock.
The Irish Fish Producers Organisation (IFPO) said Norway’s overfishing practices are the main cause of a recommended 22% cut in the EU mackerel quota next year.
The IFPO said Ireland’s fishing fleet stands to lose more than €10 million in 2025 from the mackerel cut as they have half of the EU western mackerel quota.
"This is a hammer blow for Ireland as we already lost 26% of our mackerel allowance to the UK in the Brexit deal," said IFPO Chief Executive Aodh O'Donnell.
The IFPO said this is the third year in a row of quota cuts, which threaten the viability of Ireland’s mackerel fishing fleet and the onshore fish processing sector.
Mr O'Donnell said EU and Irish fishers have managed the shared mackerel stocks sustainably, however, he added "non-EU member, Norway, has been setting unilateral quotas and overfishing."
A spokesperson for the Minister for Agriculture, Food & the Marine said he "acknowledges the real concerns of the Irish fishing industry on this issue.".
The added: "Minister McConalogue has consistently highlighted concerns regarding Norway's actions in setting excessive and unstainable Mackerel quotas and the need for the EU to take action to protect this important stock."
The spokesperson added: "[The] European Commission has exclusive competence to negotiate with Third Countries, such as Norway, on behalf of the EU in relation to fishing opportunities, on the basis of a mandate agreed by Council.
"At EU level, the Minister continues to take an active involvement in discussions which may impact on Ireland’s seafood sector, and to strongly articulate Ireland’s concerns."
Commission urged to act on mackerel stock catches
Meanwhile, a high-level EU committee has urged the European Commission to act immediately following recent scientific advice recommending a 22% reduction in the Northeast Atlantic Mackerel stock catches.
The Pelagic Advisory Council sent a letter to the Director General of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Department in the European Commission stating that "the persistent lack of a comprehensive and sustainable sharing arrangement among Coastal States continues to put undue pressure on the mackerel stock."
The council said if urgent action is not taken, the "unsustainable exploitation of the mackerel stock will have long-term detrimental impacts on the EU fishing industry."
The council urged the commission to intensify its diplomatic efforts, particularly through the "high-level dialogue group between the European Union and Norway."
It said, in the letter seen by RTÉ News, that "a firm and coordinated diplomatic stance will be essential to reach an agreement that halts the trend of third countries setting excessive unilateral quotas, entering into partial agreements using their inflated self-declared quotas as currency and restores balance in the management of this crucial stock."
The Irish Fish Producers Organisation's call for a renegotiation of international fishing deals at EU level comes several days after the letter from the Pelagic Advisory Council to the European Commission.
Irish fish producers are calling on the European Commission to ban Norway and other-non-EU States from fishing in Irish waters "unless there is a reciprocal exchange in fish quotas".
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Norwegian fishermen can fish almost 200,000 metric tonnes of blue whiting in Ireland's EU fishing waters, while the Irish fishing fleet is permitted to catch less than a third of that amount.
"Norway's deal is worth about €50m while Ireland’s quota is worth just €15m, and Ireland got almost nothing out of this deal, said Mr O'Donnell.
"We are calling for a renegotiation of the Norway-EU blue whiting deal in a way which benefits Ireland proportionately, as similar deals do for our sister EU states.
"Otherwise, non-EU access must be blocked and we must make this an election issue for our coastal communities.
The Government must demand parity of treatment for Ireland’s fishing industry on this issue at EU level," Mr O'Donnell added.
The EU has three fisheries agreements with Norway, which include bilateral, trilateral and neighbouring agreements.
The bilateral arrangement covers the North Sea and the Atlantic, the trilateral agreement covers Denmark, Sweden and Norway and the neighbourhood arrangement covers the Swedish fishery in Norwegian waters of the North Sea.
