Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am doing that and will do that. I will always redouble efforts in that regard because fish and the volume of fish are the most important resources for the sustainability of our fishing sector and the families who depend on it. At European level, I always fight and take every possible opportunity to try to increase and improve our position regarding quotas. Most recently for blue whiting, a pelagic species, we got a good outcome along with an improved outcome concerning the allocation of blue whiting nationally and further restricting the access arrangements for outside, non-EU countries, particularly Norway, to the north-west region and the Irish conservation box. There was also a good outcome at the recent Council meeting in December for spurdog. For the first time in many years, there is now a spurdog fishery, which is important for the inshore sector. To try to get a result on that was probably the number one thing asked of me over the last few years and it is something we hope to build on. After many years of conservation measures for the north-west herring stock, there is now a quota for that as well. Inside the sector, everybody has a different view and everybody wants a bigger slice of the cake. I work with the sector to try to be as fair as possible and consult as closely as possible in making decisions.

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