Creed: Fishermen could be key help
The claim was made yesterday by Fine Gael agriculture spokesman Michael Creed after he had met with the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation in Castletownbere, Co Cork.
Mr Creed said the information stream should not be put at risk by bad feeling that could be avoided.
He said a little more than €20 million was allocated for the decommissioning of the white fish vessel fleet in last week’s budget, but the Cawley report on the industry sought more than €60m.
Legislation brought in during the past year also introduced criminal charges for fishermen. He believed this has had the effect of alienating coastal communities.
“This is particularly worrying in the light of current fears about the level of drugs coming into the country,” he said.
“Fishermen are in a unique position to encounter pertinent information for those policing the coastline and we should ensure that they are on side to help out the authorities.”
He said it was time to set up a working group to review the operation of the legislation and to revisit the more contentious aspects like the imposition of criminal rather than administrative sanctions.
