UK hails fish quota deal
New quota deal agreed for UK fishermen
Wednesday, 19, Dec 2007 01:16
British ministers say they have secured a "fair deal" for North Sea fishermen under a new European Union arrangement.
The agreement on quotas comes after UK fishermen said they were being forced to throw back tonnes of dead fish into the sea to meet EU regulations.
An 11 per cent increase in the North Sea cod quota and a five per cent rise in Irish Sea haddock quota has been secured under the deal.
But fishing days in Scotland's west coast and the North Sea have been cut by 18 per cent and ten per cent respectively.
Fisheries minister Jonathan Shaw said the deal agreed with Brussels would appeal to both conservationists and fishermen.
"The UK has shown that its fishermen are committed to finding new ways of protecting vulnerable stocks. We wanted to avoid cuts to days at sea for our fishermen, but the overall deal that we achieved offsets some of those agreed," Mr Shaw said.
"Today's agreement acknowledges efforts by our fishermen to find new ways to safeguard stocks and to prevent large amounts of the fish they catch having to be thrown back dead into the sea.
"I want to pay tribute to my fellow ministers from the devolved administrations and their officials as well as Defra officials - everyone worked together for a fair deal that has benefits for fishermen throughout the UK."
Responding to the new quotas, conservation charity WWF was cautiously optimistic.
Its senior marine policy officer Helen McLachlan said: "This is the fishing industry's big chance to show they can deliver on their claims of being able to fish more selectively and sustainably.
"However if the fishermen fail to implement cod avoidance plans, we will have wasted the only chance at recovery since 1997. The stakes are high - let's hope they can deliver."
John Rutherford, chief executive of the Sea Fish Industry Authority (Seafish), said that the new quotas were "encouraging".
"Some of the quota decisions and fishing restrictions agreed will pose challenges for UK fishermen but they also include some new opportunities," he explained.
"Fishermen now need to consider their individual fishing circumstances, and constraints, and make realistic business decisions."