The Seafood Ireland Alliance (SIA) has warned that the future of Europe’s most valuable pelagic stock is in jeopardy after Coastal States once again failed to agree on a plan to save mackerel. Despite stark warnings from scientists on the state of the stock, negotiations in Clonakilty reached an impasse.
Over the last two days, representatives of the SIA attended the Coastal States negotiations involving the EU, UK, Norway, Faroes, Iceland and Greenland.
The talks aimed to agree on how mackerel catches would be shared from 2026 onwards. But while the scientific body ICES has issued dire warnings about the state of the stock, no agreement was reached. Parties remained entrenched in their positions, despite strong efforts by the EU to inject urgency into the process.
The SIA, who attended the negotiations as observers, welcomed the EU’s firm stance in the talks. They said the EU delegation were the only party demonstrating a sense of urgency by calling for immediate agreement on measures to reduce fishing pressure.
Patrick Murphy, chair of the ISWFPO, said the EU was right to call this an emergency. “We need an immediate, unified and responsible approach by all parties if the stock is to recover. Other parties, particularly Norway, seem in denial on the state of the stock, despite consistent scientific warnings to the contrary.”
Seafood Ireland Alliance members (L to R): Dominic Rihan – CEO KFO, Patrick Murphy – CEO IS&WFPO, Aodh O’Donnell – CEO IFPO