Uncontrolled sprat fishing will hurt whole industry, warns whale group
Viewed as a vital biomass upon which larger fish feed, the sprat catches sell for around €100 a ton. Leisure activity company Cork Whale Watch (CWW) says this makes neither economic nor ecological sense.
“Only scraps remain of this season’s sprat shoals,” said CWW proprietor, Colin Barnes. “If this fishery is allowed to continue unregulated and uncontrolled, as it is at present, there is a real danger sprat stocks will become rare or even extinct. Similar fishing pressure was directed at the herring stock that gathered and spawned in the Stags and Toe Head area of West Cork.”
In Jan 2013, Mr Barnes wrote to Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney expressing his grave concern about the sprat fishing industry off the south-west coast. His latest report updates his concerns.
A former commercial fisherman with 30 years of experience, he said the shoals of sprat that once came into the harbour area of Glandore and Union Hall, West Cork every winter have also been fished to extinction.
“One cannot overstate the importance of sprat as a forage species,” said Mr Barnes.
“They are a vital food supply for all commercial fish species taken by the fishing industry. In particular, all members of the cod family feed on sprat throughout their lives; from tiny size up to huge adults.
“Furthermore, sprats are a local species and do not roam offshore like their larger cousin, the herring. The fact that they all aggregate, in all age classes, in inshore waters, makes them extremely vulnerable to concentrated fishing effort. They remain in Irish waters and are not pursued by foreign vessels.”
Mr Barnes said sprats are a vital link in the marine food chain, turning tiny plankton into rich, oily fish proteins.
