Handcuffed negotiators unlikely to resolve key fisheries issues
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The Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation (KFO) has expressed its serious misgivings ahead of the annual meeting of the Council of Fisheries Ministers which commences in Brussels this weekend. It believes that an industry already in a state of heightened anxiety regarding Brexit losses is again in a nigh impossible situation since the real decisions impacting Irish fisheries for 2022 and beyond, are being taken at separate negotiations between the EU and UK.

Seán O’Donoghue, CEO of the KFO said: “The Commission is likely to propose provisional TACs (Total Allowable Catch) and quota figures for next year. This is as a result of the fact that we are awaiting the outcome of EU/UK bilateral negotiations which affect 75 shared fish stocks, most of which are crucial to the Irish fleet. Based on past experience, I wouldn’t be holding my breath that these bilaterals will have wrapped up in time to give Council the necessary data with which to make final TACs and quotas for next year.

The more probable scenario is that the Council will set provisional TACs and quotas. This is totally unsatisfactory and caused a major problem for our fishing sector last year with the final figures published seven months into the year. Further compounding this, we had the huge impact of Brexit on our key stocks. It is of critical importance that what happened in 2021 is not repeated for 2022.

Seasonal fisheries such as mackerel, horse mackerel, blue whiting and boarfish are predominantly worked in the first quarter of the year so instructing fishermen that they can only catch a certain percentage of their allocations during ‘peak season,’ is neither credible nor realistic. The KFO is also concerned in relation to a number of whitefish stocks given the scientific advice being presented to EU and UK negotiators and the impact the trilateral negotiations EU/Norway/UK could have on significantly decreasing the TAC for haddock in Northwest where an increase of 125% is expected.

Furthermore, I have requested immediate action by the Minister and the Commission to urge Norway and the Faroe Islands to stop the massive overfishing of mackerel in the Northeast Atlantic which is jeopardizing the sustainable management of the stock. It is critical that the Council of Ministers act decisively against this irresponsible and reckless behaviour and I am calling on our Minister to ensure that this is dealt with at the Council.

Finally, the Council must be made aware that Minister McConalogue, our Commissioner and our Government as a whole, are unequivocally committed to delivering on ‘burden sharing’ amongst the Member States post Brexit to rectify the appalling vista whereby Irish fishermen were saddled with 40% of the EU’s fisheries loss to Britain. A recent fleet report from the Commission’s own Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee on Fisheries (STECF) has confirmed these figures are correct. The ball is firmly in their court now and we’re demanding urgent action on this issue.”
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The KFO expects, as in previous years, after the usual battles that ‘The Hague Preferences’ – which see Ireland getting elevated quotas for a number of key species, will be delivered.