Ban the ocean floor sweepers

THE warning that world fish stocks are fast approaching collapse comes as no surprise to anybody familiar with modern fishing methods.

Super-trawlers fish on an industrial scale, acting like giant vacuum cleaners, sweeping every living creature from the ocean floors, fish at all stages of development, from mature species to the tiniest sprat. They also dredge the ocean floor, leaving a lifeless desert behind.

We are in no position to point the finger at other nations since one of the most destructive of these super-trawlers, with a capacity of thousands of tonnes, operates under the Irish flag from its home port in Donegal. I understand there are whole communities along the west African coast deprived of their traditional fisheries as a result of the decimation of stocks by these super-trawlers.