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Local fishermen have welcomed the European ruling to increase fish quotas
and keep fishing grounds open. EU ministers announced last Thursday that
they would abandon measures to close off large portions of fishing grounds
in an effort to prevent dwindling fish stocks.
From January 1, 2005, fishermen will be able to catch 188 per cent more
Dover sole quota in the Western Channel - the western part of the English
Channel.
This is an increase in the total allowable catch from 300 to 865 tonnes.
Western approaches sole quotas will also increase by 67 per cent, while
Dover sole caught in the Celtic Sea, between England and Ireland, will
remain the same.
A nine per cent increase was also announced for cod and hake quotas.
However, the trade-off for the increases in sole quotas, is that beam
trawlers will only be able to fish in the Western Channel for 20 days
each month. There is currently no limit on days at sea.
While South West fishing leaders have welcomed the ruling and paid tribute
to Fisheries Minister Ben Bradshaw, Exeter's Labour MP, for brokering
the deal with the European Commission, there are doubts that the days-at-sea
limit will remain at 20.
The Chief Executive of the Cornish Fish Producers' Organisations, Paul
Trevilcock, said: "We can live with the 20-day rule. That is OK for
2005, but in future years the commission can use it as a mechanism to
ratchet down those days at sea.
"We could find ourselves all of a sudden tied to the quay. We need
to be very aware of this."
Newlyn based fisherman, Mick Mahon, said that U-turn proved what fishermen
had been saying for many years - that sole stocks in West Country waters
were in a far better state than the official scientific advice had suggested.
"It is very, very good news indeed, but many years out of date,"
he said.
"Fishermen are not liars - we know the state of the fish stocks
out there. It proves that fishermen understand the science better than
the scientists."
Jim Portus, chief executive of the Cornish Fish Producers' Organisation
said that the new quotas were an early Christmas present for South West
fishermen.
article copyright © THE CORNISHMAN
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