Fishermen’s compensation levels to be studied by EU

EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg yesterday undertook to study the levels of compensation being offered by the Irish Government to drift net fishermen following the compulsory ban on the fishing method.

Mr Borg gave the commitment to Fine Gael’s John Deasy at a conference on the future of the European Union’s Maritime Policy in Livorno, Italy.

Mr Deasy raised the case of salmon drift netters in Ireland and argued that the compensation being offered by the Government was woefully inadequate.

He said the payments were so low that some families, involved in salmon fishing for generations, would end up being paid one-off sums of little more than €2,000.

“I raised the issue because I think it is grossly unfair for fishing families. There is a question of equity and equivalence here. A sum of only a few thousand euro for these small fishermen after a lifetime is clearly not good enough,” said Mr Deasy.

“In addition, the ban on drift netting arose because the Irish Government had to comply with the EU’s Habitats Directive. If the EU is regulating fishermen out of business, then the question of adequate compensation arises,” he added.

Mr Deasy said that, in a later conversation with Mr Borg at the conference, the Commissioner agreed to study the question of compensation “very seriously.”

Mr Borg said an EU maritime policy would require cooperation from all members.

“It is true that a holistic and more sustainable maritime policy cannot be tackled by a few member states alone. The oceans and seas know no borders.

“It makes a lot of sense therefore to build a common approach and a policy framework at European level,” he told the conference.