Late night fish supper

Talks on the future of Europe’s fishing industry looked set to continue late into the night on Thursday as ministers failed to find agreement on how stocks should be protected from over fishing.

Despite reports that the atmosphere round the discussion table was generally more positive than at last December’s fisheries council, member states still could not come to any agreement.

The sticking point seemed to be not fishing quotas, on which ministers are broadly agreed, but how to enforce them.

Some countries believe the best way to bring down catch sizes is through limiting the number of days spent at sea, whilst others would rather ban fishing altogether in certain waters for limited periods of the year.

Council officials reported that France, Belgium and Ireland were still broadly against any compromise, with Italy wavering.

However Spain and Portugal may have been let off the hook with an exemption from fishing effort restriction off the Iberian peninsular.

The latest scientific advice recommends a total freeze on cod and hake fishing to give stocks chance to recover from the dangerously low levels to which they have fallen.

In the face of protests from Europe’s beleaguered fishing industry the commission proposed instead cuts in total allowable catches (TACs) of between 50 and 65 per cent.

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