Cod back on the menu as fishing limits relaxed
European deal is welcome news for chippies
Fish and chip shop lovers have been given a boost after limits on the number of cod that can be caught were relaxed.
The EU agreed to increase the sustainable fishing quotas for a variety of valuable fish in British waters for 2017.
A 16.5 per cent increase in cod that can be caught in the North Sea was agreed as well as a 25 per cent increase in Irish Sea haddock and a 20 per cent boost to sole in the Western Channel.
A seven per cent rise in haddock was also agreed in the Channel while an increase of 8.6 per cent was agreed for the Norway Lobster, commonly used in scampi, in the Irish Sea.
Fisheries minister George Eustice celebrated the negotiations with the fisheries council in Brussels and vowed that the Government would continue to enforce sustainable fishing after exiting the EU.
Hesaid:“Todeliveraprofitable fishing industry, we must fish sustainably now and in the future. This year we were able to agree further increases in quotas on some valuable species as stocks have recovered, especially in the North Sea.
“As we prepare to leave the European Union we have an opportunity to build on progress made and improve the management of fish stocks in our waters, but we will continue to follow the principles of fishing sustainably and ending the wasteful practice of discarding fish.”
Further increases in the North Sea include 17 per cent for whiting, 20 per cent for anglerfish and 53 per cent for saithe. It will be welcome news to fishermen and fish and chip shop owners in a week where the national press claimed that cod would soon be replaced on takeaway menus by squid due to a rise in the temperature of the oceans.