MINISTER OF State for Fisheries Tony Killeen has expressed "serious relief" at the outcome of the EU's 2009 fish-quota negotiations in Brussels.
Retention of the Hague Preferences principle for key Irish species and agreement on conservation measures to avert a total whitefish moratorium off the northwest are among the highlights of the deal which has been welcomed by the Irish fishing industry.
"If you had told me a month ago we would have this outcome I wouldn't have believed you,"Mr Killeen told The Irish Times last night from Brussels.
The Federation of Irish Fishermen (FIF), representing the four main industry organisations, said it was relieved that the "more outlandish and potentially devastating proposals were overturned".
Mr Killeen has said overall Irish whitefish quotas are up by 4 per cent on 2008 levels, while pelagic quotas are up 8 per cent - with overall quota gain of 5 per cent, valued at over €200 million.
Denying that Lisbon Treaty referendum factors had been at play in the approach taken by other member states to the negotiations, Mr Killeen conceded that Ireland appeared to be isolated on a number of fronts at the outset.
However, a policy decision to base all Irish arguments on scientific evidence and a close working relationship between his senior Minister, Brendan Smith, and his French agriculture and fisheries counterpart had been key factors, Mr Killeen said.
Invocation of the Hague Preferences on 11 fish stocks was "critical", and almost doubled the cod quota in the Celtic Sea.
The preferences, agreed by EU heads of state in 1976 in return for access to some of Europe's richest waters off this coastline, have secured a larger share of traditional stocks for Ireland where these are set at lower levels.
However, as competition for stocks has increased, EU coastal states have attempted to dismantle the protection, and the French EU presidency was believed to have made it a priority before the latest negotiations opened.
A proposed 15 per cent cut in prawn quotas was clawed back to 2 per cent. A 33 per cent increase in the mackerel quota also includes a "roll over" of the 40,500 tonne quota for horse mackerel.
