Outcome of Fisheries Meeting in Brussels will please nobody says UUP MEP
Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson warned today that the only guarantee which would come from this week’s crucial Fisheries meeting in Brussels where European fisheries ministers gather to set the total allowable catches and quotas for the fishing industry in 2007 is that neither fishermen nor conservationists will be happy with the result.
Northern Irish prawn boats are currently allowed 220 days at sea but fishermen fear that number may now be reduced.
Jim Nicholson is meeting Northern Ireland Fisheries Minister, David Cairns MP tomorrow to discuss the outcome of the Fisheries Council and the impact it will have for the fishing industry.
Speaking as the talks get underway Mr Nicholson said,
“I have witnessed this destructive process every year for the past 17 years and without any shadow of a doubt the result for Northern Ireland’s fishing industry gets worse as each year passes. Northern Ireland’s fishing industry can not sustain the imposition of any further quotas or days at sea reductions.
“What I want to see is the end of this annual charade. Every year, the European Commission promises to settle this ridiculous situation, yet every Christmas we find ourselves facing drastic quota cuts.”
Mr Nicholson also challenged the system whereby fishermen are forced to dump healthy fish back into the sea in order to stick to agreed quotas.
He said that, “out of all the problems contained in the Common Fisheries Policy, discards has to be the craziest of all. The EU needs to end the discards madness and
allow fishermen to land everything they catch.
Mr Nicholson also added that the fisherman’s hand would be significantly strengthened if a local Assembly, with a local Minister in charge of fisheries was in place.
“Just look at what happens in Scotland”, he said. “Back in September an action plan aimed at securing the long-term future of Scotland’s fishing industry was launched by the Scottish Executive, which brought together representatives of all the key interests in the sector, including industry and environmental leaders.
“Whitehall and Brussels may have more of a say over fisheries policy, but nonetheless Northern Ireland needs such a plan to highlight our regional circumstances and reinforce our case.”