NI fishermen fight Irish Sea cod cuts

Cod cuts will affect haddock and prawns industry fears

By Martin Cassidy BBC NI rural affairs correspondent

The opening salvoes in a battle over Irish Sea fishing grounds have been fired with fishermen saying they are determined to fight plans by European scientists to ban the catching of cod in the Irish Sea.

Trawlermen say the plans are likely to hit catches of other more economically important species like prawns and haddock and will devastate the already fragile economies of fishing communities.

Dick James of the Northern Ireland Fish Producers' Organisation has said he would leave UK Fisheries Minister Elliott Morley in no doubt about the impact of the proposals, when they meet soon.

"The suggestion is that any fishery at all which takes cod in any kind or part is be banned and here you are talking about very important fisheries like the Irish Sea prawn fishery and the haddock fishery, and it is the thought that these will be banned as well is giving us the horrors," he said.

Dick James is to petition UK minister

The plans to introduce tough new conservation measures follows worrying research findings from the Irish Sea.

Cod stocks continue to decline despite fishing boats being kept out of spawning areas for six weeks each spring.

Irish Sea trawlermen say they have already endured three years of painful restrictions on catching cod yet rather than seeing an improvement in stocks, they are being told that a complete ban on cod fishing is now necessary.

The scientists maintain that even tougher conservation measures are needed to prevent a collapse in cod stocks but fishermen say that a complete ban on cod fishing will inevitably mean restrictions on catching prawns and haddock which are vital to the viability of the fleet.

Cod by-catch

The prawn fleet is particularly vulnerable as cod is frequently a by-catch. As the prawn boats drag their nets along the muddy bottom of the Irish Sea, cod are scooped up along with the nephrops.

The total catch each year from the Irish Sea earns more than £20m for fishing communities in the province.

Cod, however, makes up less than £1.4m of that - about 7%.

UK Fisheries Minister Elliot Morley will hear NI fleet's concerns

Northern Ireland boats land about 450 tonnes each year.

By contrast, the prawn catch is huge and is worth more than £10m each year.

Prawn landings total 5,000 tonnes and help sustain many of Northern Ireland's 150 boats.

The local industry supports up to 1,000 jobs at sea and at least three times that number in shore-based activities associated with fish processing and servicing the fleet.

'Climate change'

Fishermen argue the decline in cod stocks is linked to climate change and that restrictions limiting catches of other species will simply amount to inflicting unnecessary pain on an already weakened industry.

The final decisions on catches and restrictions are likely to be taken by European fisheries ministers when they meet in Brussels in December.

Irish Sea fishermen say they must now force the policy makers to look again at the conservation plans and persuade them of the importance of prawns and haddock to the local industry.