This article is from page 30 of the 2009-01-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 30 JPG
IN one of his last official EU actions confirmed before the Christmas break, Clare TD and Junior Minis- ter at the Department of Agriculture, Tony Killeen, announced a total of €202 million in fishing quotas for Ireland in 2009.
This announcement came after weeks of negotiations at EU level and represents an increase of five per cent on last years figures.
The Hague Preferences again came under sustained attack from several Member States this year and their re- moval had been identified as a real risk with serious consequences for Ireland.
The preferences, agreed by Heads
of State in 1976, give Ireland addi- tional quota in certain species and are a fundamental part of relative stability. They give Ireland a bigger share of the traditional stocks around Ireland, if they are at low levels. They have become increasingly im- portant to Ireland as quotas of fish that fishermen are allowed to catch have decreased.
“The Hague Preferences almost doubled Ireland’s cod quota in the Celtic Sea and increased the cod quota in the Irish Sea by some 40 per cent,” said Minister Killeen.
“I cannot emphasise enough the difficulty we faced on a number of fronts in regard to the Hague Prefer- ences and I am both pleased and re- lieved that we have been successful
in our efforts to defend an issue of critical importance for Irish fisher- neoee
“IT am delighted to have been suc- cessful in delivering a_ balanced package of fishing opportunities for our fishermen in what were ex- tremely difficult negotiations. I have worked closely with our Industry Representatives, the Federation of Irish Fishermen (FIF), over the past number of weeks and especially dur- ing the negotiations to ensure that where possible Ireland’s priorities were delivered.”
One of the major objectives of Ire- land was the roll over of the Prawn quota in The Irish and Celtic seas. This was virtually achieved with the reduction being rolled back from the
proposed 15 per cent to just 2 per oom
‘This year we faced a severe range of cuts across many of the commer- cial stocks that our fleet are reliant on,” he continued.
‘After careful consideration of the Scientific advice for these stocks, I sought increases on the proposed quotas where I was satisfied that the state of the stock could sustain high- er catch level.
“IT accepted cuts on stocks where the science was strong and created cause for concern. In the final pack- age, a balance has been struck that will give our fishermen, whitefish opportunities to the value of €202 million for 2009 from €194 million on 2008.”