Simon Coveney, Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine recently went to sea on an Irish Sea prawn trawler to view a demonstration of innovative fishing nets which significantly reduce unwanted cod catches.
Minister Coveney added, "In the Irish Sea, the use of traditional nets in the prawn fishery has resulted in a bycatch of cod and juvenile cod which is being discarded. I am committed to the development of practical and effective measures that reduce discards to a very low level across our fisheries. The Marine Institute and BIM are working with fishermen to develop eco friendly fishing nets that will be practical for fishermen while addressing effectively unacceptable discards of juvenile and other unwanted fish. This gear is a good example of what can be achieved by the development of these new targeted eco friendly fishing gears. I would like to see wider take up of these types of measures and approaches across many of the fisheries around Ireland, so as to reduce discards and rebuild many of fish stocks on which our industry depends".
