Fishing groups have condemned an EU fisheries deal reached early on Saturday, describing its outcome as a “betrayal” of their industry and putting 2,300 costal community jobs in “immediate danger”.
Seafood Ireland Alliance (SIA) has indicated Ireland would have 57,000 tonnes less quota to fish next year.
EU member states reached agreement on fishing in the Atlantic, the North Sea, the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and other waters for 2026 and for certain stocks in 2027 and 2028.
The SIA said Ireland had entered the talks presenting a strong, united front, but was “met with a slap in the face.” They warned that wider economic impacts could reach €200 million next year with coastal communities in ports such as Killybegs, Co Donegal; Castletownbere, Co Cork; and Howth, Co Dublin facing decimation.
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The group also accused member states and the EU Commission of reneging on commitments embedded in the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) designed to protect Ireland’s reliance on fishing.
Aodh O’Donnell of the Irish Fish Producers Organisation said the deal would deliver a €94 million hit and threaten the survival of many Irish vessels and seafood businesses.
“The EU has failed Ireland’s fishing industry repeatedly. This latest failure means utter devastation and effectively the CFP as a policy has failed,” he said. “It’s symptomatic of a fundamentally unfair system where large member states and big business can dictate what happens to the Irish fishing industry.”
According to Mr O’Donnell, Ireland was denied a long-standing insurance mechanism designed to prevent extreme quota cuts – the Hague Preference, created in 1976 to protect highly dependent fishing nations including Ireland, was blocked by member states for the first time in almost 50 years.
Dominic Rihan of the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation said the deal would see its vessels limited “to less than 20 days fishing a year with tiny quotas.”
Brendan Byrne of the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters group warned that processing plants now faced a huge threat.
“They cannot survive without supply. Less quota means less fish and less work. Many plants may not survive this.”
John Lynch of the Irish South and East Fish Producers Organisation noted that the Irish fleet had been left with 28 tonnes of sole to catch in 2026 compared to Belgium’s 450 tonnes.
Minister of State for Fisheries, Timmy Dooley, acknowledged that the outcome of the Agri Fish Council would result in severely reduced fishing opportunities in 2026.
He said scientific advice upon which the Council’s decisions were based reflect the impact of overfishing of mackerel by certain third countries.
“The advised 70 per cent drop in the total allowable catch for mackerel is compounded by a 41 per cent reduction in blue whiting and a 22 per cent reduction in boarfish,” he said, setting out the results of the deal.
“Ireland has consistently called for action against those countries who overfish mackerel. Given that Ireland holds the largest share of EU quota for mackerel in the western waters area, the devastating impact of the decline in this stock will be acutely felt.”
The Government has called for a clear EU message that actions threatening the sustainability of shared stocks were not acceptable.
Mr Dooley expressed extreme disappointment at the actions of a group of member states whom he said had blocked the Hague protection mechanism for Ireland.
“The Hague Preferences were created to account for Ireland’s underdeveloped fleet and to counter the impact of access to Irish waters provided to vessels of other EU nations,” he said.
“These amounts of fish allocated to Ireland from other member states protected our fishing fleet from periods of severely depleted quotas. Regrettably, a group of member states chose to block the invocation of The Hagues this year.”
