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Agreement on fishing quotas 'a mixed bag'

The council will adopt the regulations and the quotas will apply from 1 January next year
The council will adopt the regulations and the quotas will apply from 1 January next year

Fishing representative organisations say the EU fish quotas agreement next year represents "a mixed bag" for Irish fishers and "as good as we could have hoped for given the scientific advice".

European Fisheries Ministers reached agreement after prolonged negotiations on fishing opportunities for Irish and EU fishers for 2025 in the early hours of this morning at the December Fisheries Council.

European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis said the agreement goes "in the direction of preserving endangered fish stocks while ensuring fishers can continue their activity".

Speaking after the council, Minister for Agriculture Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue said the Government's key priority was to maximise the preference for Irish fishers within the recommended scientific advice.

Minister McConalogue said he felt this was done by invoking the Hague Preference mechanism, which dates back to 1976.

The Hague Preference recognises Ireland's dependence on stocks fished in the waters around Ireland by providing increased share of designated stocks when these fall below a certain level, which were agreed in response to Ireland granting access to other Member States to the waters of Ireland’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

Chief Executive of the Irish Fish Producers Organisation Aodh O’Donnell, who was in Brussels during the talks, said the successful negotiations of Hague Preferences "was a certain source of relief."

He said the agreement reached last night is a "mixed bag for Ireland".

Chief Executive of the Killybegs Fisherman's Organisation Dominic Rihan said the outcome of the Fisheries Council, which finished up in the early hours of this morning, is probably "as good as we could have hoped for, given the scientific advice for some of our key stocks has resulted in significant cuts to quotas."

"We have had a positive outcome on some of the industry’s priorities and we recognise the work of the minister and his officials in delivering on these priorities," Mr Rihan said.

He added: "Nonetheless, the industry is facing into a difficult 2025 with reductions of 16% to our mackerel quota and a 12% reduction in the prawn quota.

"Additionally, very low quotas for cod, haddock, sole and pollack in the Celtic Sea were agreed, which will create serious financial difficulties for fishermen operating off the south coast," Mr Rihan added.

Mr O’Donnell echoed those remarks, adding that "re key impacts relate to several species, particularly cuts in mackerel, Dublin Bay Prawns, hake and haddock in the Celtic Sea.

"These amount to reductions of approximately 20% which will result in reduced landings of these species in the coming year with impacts onshore and in services industries as well," he said.

Mr O’Donnell said a key outcome achieved by the minister and his officials was the negotiation of several reductions in the quota cuts; however, he feels the industry is still in a crisis mode, driven primarily by the Brexit impact.

"The Brexit Trade and Cooperation agreement will be reviewed next year. We must be mindful that Ireland contributed 40% of the total value of fish transferred to Britain under this agreement and rebalancing is required in any review.

"The industry has the ambition to deliver for our coastal communities, but we require the requisite policies at government and EU level. It is important the minister remains actively engage with the sector to deliver on theses priorities," Mr O’Donnell said.

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Minister McConalogue welcomed the agreement saying his objective for this council was to secure the application of the Hague Preference for Mackerel and Herring in addition to the traditional white fish stocks.

He said the reduction in the Total Allowable Catch [quota] of 22% for mackerel for 2025 coupled with the quota cuts under the TCA meant that Ireland's quota for mackerel is at a point where the Hague preference is triggered for 2025.

The minister said: "Many Member States object strenuously to the application of the Hague Preferences as the additional quota for Ireland comes off their allocations."

He added: "While Ireland is conscious of these sensitivities…the additional quotas obtained through the application of the Hague Preferences will provide stability for fishers and help to mitigate the impacts of necessary quota reductions."

The EU's negotiations with the UK concluded last week and a partial agreement was reached with Norway in advance of December Council, which enabled Total Allowable Catches to be set for the full year.

The minister said: "Unfortunately, some stocks, such as Pollack and some Celtic Sea Whitefish stocks, are still in a vulnerable state and reductions in quota are necessary."

The Department intends to work with fishers along with he Marine Institute and BIM to promote their rebuilding of these stocks.

Notwithstanding the challenges, the minister said he was pleased "to see increases for some stocks such as Boarfish and West of Scotland Monkfish and also pleased to see the re-opening of the Horse Mackerel fishery as a directed fishery next year."

He acknowledged the Fishing Organisation representatives for their engagement throughout the negotiations and their work with other Member States industries facilitating agreements on quotas.