I am working closely with the Irish fishing industry through its representative organisations to address the key issues arising for the industry at this time. I have had a number of meetings with the national representative organisations in recent weeks and will meet the fishermen's organisation on a number of occasions again in the coming weeks.
The position in respect of fish stocks is that the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, ICES, has provided scientific advice on the state of stocks for the 2003 fishing year. This advice involves wide ranging reductions, in some cases over 50%, in many of the white fish fisheries of interest to Ireland. There are also large reductions recommended in the mackerel, herring and horse mackerel fisheries.