European Union ministers struck a deal today to regulate next year's permitted fishing catches.
After hours of haggling into the night, ministers accepted a series of concessions offered by the European Commission that were designed to preserve stocks of threatened fish while still allowing fishermen a livelihood.
Minister for the Marine John Browne said he was "delighted" with a total package of almost 200,000 tonnes of fish for the Irish fishing industry next year.
Included in the package were increases in quota for species such as monkfish (7 per cent), hake (20 per cent), haddock (23 per cent) and prawns (17 per cent). However, there were decreases in quotas for species such as cod (-14 per cent), coley (-22 per cent), herring (-8 per cent) and whiting (-19 per cent).
Minister Browne said: "Irish fish landings deliver €230 million directly to fishermen in our coastal communities each year.
"The increased quotas delivered at this council will add €20 million to this figure, resulting in a total projected value of €0.25 billion in seafish being landed around the country in 2007," he added.
Following concerns about commercial vessels of some member states attempting to carry out "experimental" fishing using small mesh nets, a new agreement was reached that gives Ireland greater control of scientific programmes involving experimental fishing in the State's waters.
The minister said: "We have also successfully delivered long-term measures to control the use of deep-water gillnets. These include a ban on their use in waters deeper than 600 metres, restrictions in their length and the amount of time they can be left in the water, in line with scientific recommendations."
Unrestricted use of the nets, which are particularly harmful to species like deep water sharks and monkfish, goes against scientific advice.
"I am relieved that the Commission has accepted Ireland's demands on this crucial issue," Mr Browne added.
The Irish South and West Fishermen's Organisation (ISWFO) said the quotas represented an "extremely positive" deal for Irish fishermen.
ISWFO manager Jason Whooley said quotas for the commercially valuable catches of mackerel, hake and prawns had all been increased and this meant the outlook for 2007 was good.
One of the most contentious issues was how much to cut the permitted number of days that vessels may spend at sea to catch cod from 2006 levels. Scientists have warned Europe's fishermen should stop catching North Sea cod if the species is to survive.
"The reductions we have achieved on TACs (total allowable EU catch) on cod, and effort [days at sea], where cod is a species caught either directly or as a by-catch, are quite significant in themselves," said EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg.
"There are indications that juvenile cod . . . are in figures far better than what we had in the previous year. This is the first indication that there is a recovery in cod," Mr Borg said.
Additional reporting Reuters
