High value mackerel from Irish waters should be used for human consumption in Ireland, and not utlised as an animal feed ingredient in other countries, the country’s fishing industry has insisted ahead of the EU’s fishing quota negotiations with Norway.
According to the Irish Fish Producers Organisation (IFPO), in a “race to carve out a track record”, Iceland is reported in just the last two months to have caught 75% of its self-allocated quota for fishmeal. It added that for more than a decade, Iceland has pursued “a consistent policy of overfishing” and has fixed a unilateral mackerel quota almost three times greater than Ireland.
IFPO said Iceland is plundering the mackerel stock, but because it is of poor quality when it migrates into Icelandic and international waters, Icelandic vessels are fishing it for fishmeal. It estimates that 120,000 tonnes of mackerel have been landed by Iceland into Norway for fishmeal production in the last quarter.
This mirrors Norway’s irresponsible overfishing to establish a track record for years, IFPO said.
“This irresponsible overfishing in a short period is driven by the objective of establishing entitlements based on a bogus track record. This is at the expense of the responsible approach of EU Member States,” IFPO CEO Aodh O Donnell said.
“The reckless behaviour of Norway and Iceland is heightened further given that mackerel catches, which would be highly valuable to Ireland for human consumption purposes, are landed or processed in their countries as a source of salmon and animal feed.
“Mackerel is a single shared migratory stock and which spawns predominantly in Irish waters. We rely on a thriving sustainable stock, and we are guided by the best available science in our management of this resource. We condemn the wasteful and unsustainable practice of fishing a valuable commercial species for fish meal and to support an aquaculture industry.”
O Donnell said this utilisation of mackerel is scandalous and amounts to chronic overfishing in excess of the scientific recommendations.
“The Irish seafood sector is heavily reliant on mackerel and blue whiting fisheries. However, Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands in recent years have consistently pursued inflated unilateral quota, systematically overfishing these species by over 40% yearly. Such practices impact negatively on the stocks, threatening Ireland’s supply.”
IFPO also highlighted that Norway has unilaterally secured “an enormous share” of the total allowable catch (TAC) of blue whiting. It said this stock is best fished in Irish waters in the spring of each year, meaning Norway requires access to Irish waters to catch its inflated quota.
The catch opportunities available to Norway in Irish waters amounted to 224,000 tonnes last year, which was five times higher than the Irish quota in its own waters, the organisation said.
“We are at a crossroads and a radical state led change in approach is required. Irish waters are a rich and valuable resource that must be protected in the long-term national interest, we have too much to lose,” O Donnell said.
