Trawlermen angry at fisheries ban

HUNDREDS of fishermen in the South-West are facing a bleak Christmas with no income, a fisheries manager warned yesterday.

Castletownbere Fishermen’s Co-op manager John Nolan launched a scathing attack on both the EU and the Department of Marine in advance of tomorrow’s blockade of fishing ports.

The Irish industry was angry at the way it was being singled out for unfair treatment with the shutdown, from yesterday, of major fisheries: “Every weekend in Castletownbere, we watch our port being turned into little Vigo as over 40 foreign supertrawlers land unrestricted with absolutely no controls.” The local whitefish industry, he said, was reeling from this week’s double blow. “On Monday, we were told the major fisheries were being closed which resulted in 350 fishermen being unemployed, with no financial income, until January 1 at least.