Fishermen near to cod catch quota

Fishermen in Cornwall have criticised new government monthly restrictions on cod fishing for small boats.

The new quotas mean that Cornish boats of 10m or less have caught almost their entire cod quota for 2007.

There are only four tonnes left of the amount they are allowed to catch under rules of the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Defra, which restricts catches to protect supplies, said new measures would allow fishing to continue.

Fish 'grab'

Caradon district councillor Sheryll Murray said: "We are faced with the situation that there are about four tonnes of cod left for this area for the rest of the year.

"It would only take eight boats to land 500 kg each to use up that four tonnes of fish that's left.

"It's not going to last and we are going to see fishermen stopped from fishing."

She added: "This quota system has got to stop and sooner rather than later."

Looe fisherman Dave Bond said: "They are making you grab as much as you can while you can, because you know they are going to stop it. It's ludicrous."

Defra said that an unusually strong inshore cod catch in the Western Channel had forced it to restrict the monthly catch for boats of 10 metres and less, from 9 February, to 500 kg.

But it was working as quickly as possible to create "further fishing opportunities for South West fishermen".