Fishing in the Irish Sea will end next year if a recommendation from one of the world's leading marine scientific bodies to ban cod catches there is accepted, the Irish Fishermen's Organisation has warned, writes Mark Hennessy, Political Reporter.
In its annual review of fishing waters, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) said a collapse in Irish Sea cod numbers must now "be seriously considered".
The EU's Agriculture and Fisheries Commissioner, Mr Franz Fischler, has warned that he is ready to push for a complete ban on cod, whiting and haddock, along with major cuts in prawn and plaice catches.
The Commissioner's tough stand is set to provoke a major row with the Minister for the Marine, Mr Dermot Ahern, next month when fish quotas will be discussed in Brussels.
Yesterday an ICES spokesman, Mr Neil Fletcher, told The Irish Times: "Basically, we are recommending closure of the Irish Sea to fishermen."
Cod are also caught during trawling for haddock, whiting, flatfish, shrimp and prawns.
"ICES is recommending that these fisheries should also be closed unless they can demonstrate that they are not catching cod as a by-catch," the fisheries institute declared.
The general secretary of the Irish Fishermen's Organisation, Mr Frank Doyle, said: "If they do that, there will be absolutely nothing left. They might as well close it down."
ICES is a Copenhagen-based intergovernmental scientific body which advises on fisheries and environmental issues in the north-east Atlantic. ICES has 19 members, with each state entitled to two representatives.
The European Commission's own experts are expected to offer their views on the ICES report late next week, although they may recommend stiffer conservation measures, rather than outright bans.
Promising financial aid to affected fishermen, the Commissioner said: "Needless to say, the economic impact of taking ICES advice literally would leave many coastal areas in deep trouble.
"That is why I am duty-bound to think about whether there are any alternatives to taking this dramatic advice to the letter," he said, even though he believes the ICES vindicates his previous efforts.
"I don't want to say, 'I told you so', but it is galling, after repeatedly warning of the dire consequences of inaction, to see our worst fears realised and to be now faced with recommendations for a moratorium on some cod fisheries," he said.
Since 2000 efforts have been made to protect Irish Sea cod stocks by imposing 10-week bans annually from mid-February, along with the closure of spawning grounds and changes in net design.
"However, the current state of the cod stock, and the failure of past measures to bring fishing mortality down to rates that allow rebuilding mean that more stringent action is required," said ICES.
For years, trawlermen hunted spawning cod in the spring and juvenile cod in autumn and winter. During the 1990s larger pelagic boats fishing for both cod and haddock replaced smaller trawlers.
The arrival of pelagic boats has exacerbated the problem since they catch spawning cod that rise to the surface in spring in large numbers.
"You can catch an awful lot very quickly," said Mr Doyle.
Urging the EU to distinguish between the Irish Sea and the more threatened North Sea, Mr Doyle said conservation measures taken since 2000 had increased stocks despite faulty monitoring.
In 1986 over 10,000 tonnes of cod were caught in the Irish Sea, nearly 4,000 tonnes of which were netted by Irish-based trawlers. In 2001 the catch fell to 3,875 tonnes, of which just 714 tonnes were caught by Irish boats.
The main spawning grounds for cod in the Irish Sea lie off the Co Down coast and east of the Isle of Man, with a smaller, less important one located off the Wexford coast.