Mackerel cuts to send shockwaves throughout the country – Cope

A Donegal Deputy has slammed recent cuts to Irish Mackerel Quotas over it’s potential effect on the Northwest’s fishing industry.
The final signing of the Total Allowable Catch agreement for Mackerel is to take place in Bergen this week.
Total loss of revenue from the quota cut is estimated to cost fishermen here in the region of €20 million euro in 2019.
Leas Ceann Comhairle Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher has said the cuts will send shockwaves throughout the country.
In 2017, Fisheries negotiations for the annual mackerel fisher in the North East Atlantic allocated almost 86 and a half thousand tonnes to Ireland.
Last year, that quota was cut to just over 69 thousand tonnes.
For 2019, the Irish Total Allowable Catch is to be downsized again again, which equates to a total cut since 2017 od 30,935 tonnes.
In responding to the figures Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher has said the loss of this highly
valuable produce will impact severely on business plans that companies had in place, and could potentially put jobs on an off-shore in jeopardy.