28/02/2013

Fish Discards Agreement Welcomed

Fisheries Minister Michelle O’Neill has welcomed the agreement to ban the wasteful practice of discarding unwanted fish, starting in January 2014 for certain types of fish.

Following the agreement that was reached in Brussels early this morning, the Minister said: "This is a major step in reforming the flawed Common Fisheries Policy. Dumping fish just because of rigid fishing rules is wrong and I am glad that this is coming to an end.

"Some concessions have had to be made to get this agreement but overall Europe is still on track to deliver more sustainable fishing practices that will benefit both the fishing industry and the marine environment.

"Locally we have made great strides in the last twelve months to adopt more selective fishing gear that lets unwanted fish escape alive, and we are well on our way to achieving proposed discard reduction targets."

(GK)

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