'This is devastating' – skipper barred from fishing near Rockall returns home

Lithuanian fisherman Tadas Kasiulevicius working on New Year’s Eve 2020 aboard the 15-metre trawler La Petite Edelweiss, which is owned by Sean “Bawn” O’Sullivan, from Castletownbere, West Cork. Picture: Neil Michael 

The skipper barred from fishing within 12 nautical miles of Rockall in the Atlantic by a Marine Scotland patrol ship was returning home on Wednesday night.

Adrian McClenaghan said his business now faced an uncertain future if he could not return to Rockall waters, which is where he earns about 30% of his turnover.

Given the recent Brexit deal saw 25% slashed off the amount of fish he is normally allowed to catch each year – his quota – it is another blow to his business.

“Anybody taking a 50% hit on their turnover is going to struggle,” he told the Irish Examiner, speaking from the bridge of his trawler.

This is devastating to not just me and my 10 crew, but also all the other boats who can’t fish around Rockall until this situation gets sorted out.”

Mr McClenaghan left Greencastle Port on December 28 with his crew and had intended to be back home by Tuesday.

He is one of 140 Irish skippers who have permission to fish in UK waters.

But his licence does not prevent him from fishing around or even mention Rockall.

Cleaning up after landing the catch: Lithuanian fisherman Egidijus Maciulskis working on New Year’s Eve aboard the 15-metre trawler La Petite Edelweiss, which is owned by Sean “Bawn” O’Sullivan, from Castletownbere, West Cork. 

He said he was told by Scottish officials who boarded his Northern Celt trawler on Monday he couldn’t fish in the disputed waters.

The boarding took place after the vessel had followed him for just under two days.

Mr McClenaghan waited to see if the matter could be resolved with the help of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

But without any official clarification coming from Dublin about his position by Tuesday night, and against the threat of being arrested if he entered the waters around Rockall, he decided to return to Donegal.

“The start of the year is a very important market for us,” he said.

“But we have lost that now and the longer we stay in the area, the more costs we clock up.

“I couldn’t get any clarification from anybody about whether or not we were okay to go inside the 12-mile zone.

“So we stayed outside it and went into international waters instead, and they followed us there.

“But there was no fishing there so we returned to the area outside the 12-mile zone and it was after that that their skipper called us up and said they were going to board us and do an inspection.

“I asked what the situation was, as far as Rockall was concerned.

I was told our licence does not give us the right to fish within 12 nautical miles of Rockall.”

He added: “It doesn’t feel great knowing that you can be arrested and taken into a foreign port."

Sean O'Donoghue, Killybegs Fishing Organisation CEO, is the go-between between Mr McClenaghan and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Skipper Sean “Bawn” O’Sullivan, from Castletownbere, West Cork, working on New Year’s Eve 2020 aboard his 15-metre trawler La Petite Edelweiss. 

He said unless a diplomatic solution could be found, the Irish State faces a lengthy legal battle over the issue.

“We are very worried about the future of fishing in this area,” he said.

“If we are talking about having legal solutions here, they would take too long.

Our members stand to lose a significant proportion of our earnings from not being able to fish in a 12-mile zone which, in our view, doesn’t exist.”

Asked for a comment, the Department of Foreign Affairs said: "We are in contact with Scottish and UK authorities.”

The department declined to explain the current post-Brexit deal position as to whether or not Irish travellers could currently fish within 12 nautical miles of Rockall.

The Department of Agriculture declined to comment because it said Foreign Affairs is the “lead” agency dealing with the Rockall issue.