Sir,- Having witnessed over my lifetime (I am 52 years of age) a national resource plundered, the positive headline “EU agrees ban on fish discards” (Breaking News, February 27th), reads like a damp squib based on the detail outlined in the subsequent report.
With many hard pressed whitefish stocks on the brink of economic if not actual collapse, why a phased delivery to begin January 2016?
Also, what are the management plans for zero total allowance catch (TAC) species such as spurdog (rock salmon) and species that are restricted or commercially banned like bass are to Irish commercial fishers?
In principal it looks like these fish could be targeted and landed legally by default. Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney described yesterday’s agreement as an “historic milestone”, unfortunately it reads like a fudge.
The failed history of EU and Irish sea fisheries management looks set to continue.
Yours etc,
Published in Letters to the Editor, Irish Times, 28th February, 2013.
