Cuts in fish quotas 'unlikely to affect supplies'

The European Commission's move to reduce the UK and Ireland's fishing quotas for mackerel and herring is unlikely to affect supplies for the UK hospitality sector, experts said this week.

The commission last week agreed to introduce regulation to cut the amounts of the two species allowed to be taken out of the waters, following overfishing between 2001 and 2005.

The reductions, which will be spread over the period from 2007 to 2012, will be equivalent to the amounts overfished, with a maximum annual cutback of 15% of the annual quota.

However, a spokeswoman for seafood industry body Seafish said the cutback will have little impact on supplies in the UK as the vast majority of the catch is exported. "Out of the total UK supply, we export 83% of mackerel and 78% of herring," she said. "The reduction of the fishing quotas is, therefore, highly unlikely to affect UK supplies."

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By Kerstin Kühn

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