Fishers will lose €66 million worth of quotas next year if the EU follows recommended cuts to mackerel, the Irish Fish Producers Organisation has warned.
The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) provides scientific advice on fish stocks to the European Union.
In its latest advice, published today, ICES has recommended that the EU enforces cuts to the total allowable catch for North Atlantic mackerel by 70 percent.
Back in 2022, the quota was over one million metric tonnes, but the quota has been cut year on year.
In 2025, the quota was down to 576,958 tonnes. Now ICES has recommended next year’s quota should be set at just 174,000 tonnes.
“The scientific recommendation issued this morning is a hammer blow,” said Aodh O’Donnell from the Irish Fish Producers Organisation (IFPO).
“It could wipe out Ireland’s pelagic (offshore) fishing fleet and fish processors”, he warned.
ICES bases its quota recommendations on the state of the stock following a detailed scientific analysis.
Their advice will be taken into account by the European Commission who will in turn propose the quotas for 2026. The final decision is made by EU fisheries ministers at a meeting in December.
That means the Irish industry has just over two months to push back against the cuts.
“Mackerel is Ireland’s most valuable catch, worth €94 million in exports to top markets in Europe and Asia. A 70 percent quota cut could slash this by €66 million next year”, Aodh O’Donnell warned.
ICES believe that the mackerel stock is in a poor state and reducing the quota significantly is the only way to ensure the future of the fish in the Atlantic.
The IFPO blames fishing nations from outside the European Union for “years of overfishing”.
Aside from EU fishermen and women, the Atlantic is also regularly fished by boats from the UK, Norway and the Faeroe Islands.
“We have repeatedly urged the EU to stop these non-EU coastal states from unilaterally setting inflated quotas,” says O Donnell.
“Now Ireland is paying the price for an EU failure to use their bargaining powers and trade measures decisively to end these unsustainable practices.”
“Just 5 years ago, Ireland’s mackerel quota was over 75,000 tonnes. Under the post-Brexit deal, the EU reduced that by roughly 26 percent. This was followed by two years of quota reductions. Now, a further 70 percent cut will be devastating for the industry and lead to job losses.”
ICES is also recommending cutting the quota for blue whiting, another stock that has been important for Irish fishers in the past.