FIF Chairman, Gerard O'Flynn said; "Ministers Smith and Killeen must immediately put these emergency aid measures in place for Irish fishermen in order to alleviate the unprecedented crisis affecting the industry. It is incumbent on both Ministers to ensure that Ireland gets its fair share of the additional funding that has been identified by the Commission. It is vital that that the €42 million allocated to Ireland under the European Fisheries Fund is significantly increased."

The FIF chairman also emphasised that "it is essential that the Irish industry is not in any way disadvantaged in terms of how the measures are applied within individual member States. There must be a level playing field; anything other than a common aid package would make a mockery of the so called Common Fisheries Policy".

FIF has consistently prioritised 'short term tie up aid', broadening of the current decommissioning scheme and measures to increase the fish price paid to fishermen as the most immediate priorities. The Federation will continue to actively engage with both Ministers both during and after the Brussels meeting in order to ensure that the emergency measures are implemented immediately.

The Commission has formally acknowledged the crisis in the fishing sector which is caused by falling fish prices, delays in reducing the size of the European fishing fleet and rocketing fuel prices. It has proposed an emergency aid package for the fishing industry that includes short term tie up aid, grant aid for adoption of more fuel efficient measures, a range of marketing measures, new fishing vessel decommissioning proposals, changes in social measures and European funding mechanisms.

FIF is also pursuing a range of other measures all of which set out a road map for a profitable and sustainable future for the industry. The Federation is however adamant that a longer term future is entirely dependent on immediate implementation of short emergency measures.

www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners.

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