The EU fishing quota deal reached in Brussels prior to Christmas provided scant holiday joy for communities along the coast.
The effects of scientific recommendations and consequent quota reductions, along with the obstruction of the Hague Preferences, led to Ireland losing one third of its fishing quota for the upcoming year, reports RTE.
The reductions equate to a direct financial hit of €100-€105m, calculated from the projected value of the 2025 quota, reports RTE. Fishing and seafood groups warn that 2,300 positions could be jeopardised.
The difficult circumstances were worsened when four member states—France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland—prevented the activation of a longstanding safeguard for Ireland.
The Hague Preferences, established in 1976, were designed to offset the effects of granting vessels from other EU countries access to Irish waters and to compensate for Ireland’s less developed fishing fleet, reports RTE.
Frequently a focal point of extended late-night discussions, the Hague Preferences allowed Ireland additional allocations of specific stocks whenever total allowable catches dropped below certain thresholds, reports RTE.
Minister of State with Responsibility for Fisheries Timmy Dooley, who attempted to activate the Hague Preferences, labelled it an “act of betrayal” orchestrated by nations that gained the most from access to Irish waters.
Mr Dooley told European counterparts that what transpired was comparable to an act of betrayal of the fundamental terms and conditions of an insurance policy, paid for in fish by Ireland for more than 40 years, reports RTE.
The day after the negotiations, Chairperson of the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation Ciarán Doherty described the outcome as “an absolute disaster for the Irish fishing industry”.
“We will have about 14-20 days at sea next year. Meanwhile, we will be looking at other EU member states fishing in our waters all year round,” Mr Doherty said, reports RTE.
Member states establish catch limits for key commercial fish stocks in the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea at the December Fisheries Council meeting.
Total allowable catch limits, known as TACs, are determined using independent scientific advice, reports RTE.
These apply to stocks in EU waters and those harvested by EU vessels in select non-EU waters, reports RTE. They are allocated as national quotas based on past fishing patterns.
The EU engages in negotiations for fishing quotas or catch limits with non-member coastal states like the UK, Norway, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands regarding shared stocks in the north-east Atlantic.
Strains have emerged because coastal states have lately set catch limits independently, far surpassing recommended scientific guidelines, reports RTE.
Mr Dooley noted that certain fish stocks vital to Ireland were at critically low levels, with scientific advice calling for cuts in allowable catches for fishermen throughout Europe, reports RTE.
Fears of major cuts since October
The International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES), which supplies scientific guidance on sustainable management of shared fish stocks to the European Commission, delivered a serious alert in early October.
ICES said the sum of the unilateral quotas for mackerel “resulted in catches that have exceeded the scientific advice by, on average, 39% since 2010,” putting mackerel spawning under significant pressure, reports RTE.
Certain non-EU coastal states have established their own mackerel quotas, termed unilateral quotas, in recent years.
To maintain stock sustainability, ICES advised a 70% cut in the EU’s mackerel quota, a 41% reduction in the blue whiting quota, and a 22% reduction in the boarfish quota for 2026, reports RTE.
The quota for Ireland’s highest-value stock—mackerel—would decline from over 100,000 tonnes in 2014 to under 11,000 tonnes in 2026.
A sector at ‘a cliff-edge’ in ‘an hour of need’
On the morning of Sunday 5 October in Killybegs, Mr Dooley participated in a gathering with fishermen, processors, supporting businesses, and sector employees, reports RTE.
The harbour, located in south-west Donegal, serves as Ireland’s primary seafood port, recording the greatest volume and value of landings each year.
A Bord Iascaigh Mhara report released this year revealed that 88% of individuals working in the seafood sector in Killybegs hail from Co Donegal, reports RTE.
Karl McHugh, of the Atlantic Dawn Group, described the mackerel fishery as the “economic sustenance of south-west Donegal”.
David Gallagher, of Gallagher Brothers Fish Merchants, said that while Ireland was in the spawning grounds of mackerel, the stock had been decimated in international zones, reports RTE.
The meeting heard the sector was at a cliff-edge in an hour of need and it was inevitable that there “would be casualties in the room” in respect of job losses.
A common theme reappeared, reports RTE.
Calls were made for political intervention to address overfishing of shared stocks by non-EU states, reports RTE. Those calls have been repeated on numerous occasions.
When leaders in the seafood sector met Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon and Minister Dooley, ahead of the December Fisheries Council, they called for the invocation of the Hague Preferences, action against non-sustainable fishing and emergency financial support.
Fish producers and processors said the meeting delivered a “powerful signal of national unity” before the council meeting, reports RTE.
‘A betrayal of Ireland’s fishing industry’
The outcome of the meeting resulted in approximately 57,000 less tonnes of fish for Irish fishers next year.
Mr Dooley said the outcome would result in severely reduced fishing opportunities for 2026, reports RTE.
He said the scientific advice upon which the council’s decisions were based reflect the impact of overfishing of the mackerel stock by certain third countries.
“Given that Ireland holds the largest share of EU quota for mackerel in the western waters area, the devastating impact of the decline in this stock will be acutely felt”, reports RTE.
In the hours following its conclusion, Seafood Ireland Alliance issued a statement saying the council’s deal was “a betrayal of Ireland’s fishing industry”.
Aodh O’Donnell, of the Irish Fish Producers Organisation, said that despite “the best efforts of Minister Dooley and the Government, the member states failed to honour the protection mechanism (Hague Preferences) created to support Ireland”, reports RTE.
John Lynch, of the Irish South and East Fish Producers Organisation, said that all sectors of the Irish fishing industry backed one position that was dismissed.
Forensic examination in Leinster House
What transpired in Brussels during the December Fisheries Council was subject to intense and detailed scrutiny and debate in Leinster House in the past fortnight, reports RTE.
Mr Dooley came before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Fisheries and the Marine, and discussions in the Seanad and the Dáil delved into the detail of the deal.
Sinn Féin Spokesperson on Fisheries Pádraig Mac Lochlainn questioned the influence of certain corporations and their impact on quota distribution in the European Union, reports RTE.
Deputy Mac Lochlainn told the Dáil that the Common Fisheries Policy has been deeply unfair to Ireland’s fishing and coastal communities.
Also in the Dáil, Dublin TD Tom Brabazon said that responsibility for the mackerel dispute rested with coastal nations that set quotas in excess of their historical entitlements, reports RTE.
He accused the commission of having “repeatedly failed to address this situation by not leveraging access to EU markets as an effective means of enforcement”.
Former minister of state for fisheries Pat ‘the Cope’ Gallagher also named the states he believed were responsible, reports RTE.
Waterford TD Conor D McGuinness said that Ireland’s Presidency of the European Union next year must be “used deliberately to untangle and undo this injustice”.
Mr Dooley told the Dáil that legal advice has been sought on what further actions may be possible following the blocking of the Hague Preferences, reports RTE.
The minister said that concerted EU responses against sustained overfishing by third countries was discussed at the fisheries council.
The discussion, he said, included the triggering of the unsustainable fishing regulation, reports RTE.
That regulation has the capacity to impose restrictions on imports of fish and fishery products from third countries found to be engaged in unsustainable fishing.
Mr Dooley added it was a matter that he “will continue to pursue”, reports RTE.
A memo will come before Cabinet soon that will set out the establishment of a taskforce under the auspices of Food Vision 2030 to address challenges facing the sector.
It is expected that former chief executive of the Irish Farmers’ Association Michael Berkery will be appointed as the independent chair, reports RTE.
A first meeting of the taskforce will take place next month with an interim report expected in spring.
Recent coastal state agreement exacerbating overfishing
Hours before Christmas Eve, the European Commission issued a stark statement, saying it was deeply concerned about the arrangement on mackerel fishing quotas reached by the UK, Norway, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands on 15 December, reports RTE.
The commission said that it was signed without prior consultation with the European Union.
It said the four-state arrangement posed a serious risks for sustainability of the mackerel stock while undermining the legitimate interests of the EU, reports RTE.
The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea scientific advice, recommending a total allowable catch of no more than 174,357 mackerel tonnes for 2026, which the EU followed.
However, the arrangement sets a total allowable catches of 299,010 tonnes, 72% higher than the recommended scientific level, reports RTE.
The commission said the excessive exploitation exacerbates the problem in the north-east Atlantic while undermining the EU’s efforts to ensure a sustainable management of the shared stock.
“Since Russia’s annual catch in past years exceeded 100,000 tonnes, with this arrangement the overall fishing pressure on the stock in 2026 is expected to surpass 400,000 tonnes, far above the recommended scientific level,” the commission added, reports RTE.
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