The national marine agency warned today that many key Irish fish stocks are in a critical state and that cod stocks could take up to eight years to recover even if fishing were to cease immediately.
If the stocks were not allowed to recover the Republic’s fishing industry would not survive. The meeting of the European Union Fisheries Council in December will use the new scientific information in its report as the basis for negotiations.
This meeting will set the amount of fish that can be caught in 2004 and is critical for the Irish fishing industry.
Fishermen are concerned that quotas could be cut and put them out of business. Dr Paul Connolly, Director of Fisheries Science Services at the Marine Institute said steps had to be taken to allow numbers to be replenished as stocks were running low across the EU.
“These are very difficult times for the fishing industry and there are some hard decisions to be made by managers,” he said. “It is essential that scientists, managers and industry continue to work together to find solutions.”
