Cork fishermen are calling on the Minister of Agriculture and the Marine not to agree with European fisheries negociations unless Ireland receive more generous fish quotas.
They're accusing the Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue of losing control of Irish waters, ahead of the EU fisheries Council which starts today.
Fishermen on the Beara Penisula say they are frustrated that coastal states, which are not in the EU, such as Norway, The Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland and Russia are catching far more fish in Irish waters than they legally can.
Speaking to RedFM News, the CEO of the Irish South & West Fish Producers Organisation, Patrick Murphy says Coastal States are not playing fair:
"We have to get Coastal State agreement. So last year [?] quota from the [?] was 795,000 tonnes. Yet, the actual landings was 1.1 million tonnes: that's born, reared and grown in our waters, taken by other countries - the same as the mackerel - 76% of the mackerel spawn and grow in our waters and spread to other countries. We get something around 6%. And what we're asking our minister this year is not to agree to the fisheries negotiations if we don't get the slightly smaller increase to sustain our boats".
