Even as the new marine research vessel, Celtic Explorer, offers new hope to the beleaguered fishing industry, a leading south-east skipper has said Belgian fishing vessels are dumping hundreds of boxes of cod off the British coast.
This is in spite of EU restrictions designed to protect dwindling stocks of cod in northern European waters. "Some of these Belgians told me that they would end up working in the Irish Sea - and if that sort of practice continues, it's bad news for the Irish Sea fleet," Mr Johnny Keating, skipper/owner from Kilmore Quay, Co Wexford, told The Irish Times.
Mr Keating's beam trawler worked alongside Belgian vessels off the Devon coast, and he witnessed the dumping of over 100 boxes of prime cod. "It wasn't just small fish, it was good quality fish," he said. The Belgian vessels were targeting sole, and dumped the cod after removing the roe because they had no quota for it.
Mr Keating said that a complete moratorium was the only way to ensure that a stock could recover.
"Cod stocks are definitely coming back in the Irish Sea, but even though we have these recovery plans in place, they can't work when vessels are given a small cod quota and derogations for certain species. If you have a total closure, the recovery is quicker and more beneficial all around - and it has to be controlled."
Like many others in the fishing industry, Mr Keating hopes the Celtic Explorer will discover new resources, such as a potential shrimp fishery on the Porcupine bank off the Irish west coast. "Shrimp is a $9.6 billion industry in the US, so you could imagine the impact if we found some here," he said.
