THE Minister for the Marine Mr Barrett, is not expected to make any specific promises when he meets a delegation from the Donegal fishing industry today to discuss the mackerel quota.
Department officials expressed surprise yesterday at reports that the meeting was convened to discuss the impact of the recent bad weather. Mackerel fishing was relatively good during January, the Department said, and any reduction in landings has only taken place over the last seven to 10 days due to gales. Whitefish landings have been affected by bad weather during the last 2 1/2 weeks but the situation is expected to improve shortly.
A spokeswoman for the Minister said the meeting had been arranged a week ago at the request of the Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation (KFO), and it was understood that representatives from the fish processing sector would also attend. The specific agenda related to the quota management regime, particularly for the herring and mackerel spring fishery in the north west.
Mr Joey Murrin, of the KFO, said 1,000 people had been laid off by processing factories in the port, but figures cited for losses due to bad weather were inflated. The KFO was seeking a readjustment of the mackerel and herring quotas, which are split between spring and autumn fisheries.
"There is a fear that some boats won't catch their spring quota, and we don't want a situation like 1996 where we ended up with some 4,000 tonnes of uncaught fish," Mr Murrin said.
