Future of €40m mussel industry in jeopardy, parliament told

THE future of the country’s €40 million mussel industry was at risk at a time when demand for shellfish was increasing, the European Parliament was told.

The Department of Fisheries has banned fishermen collecting mussel seed in some locations around the coast because they are in, or close to, specially protected areas.

The worst affected are up to 70 families in the Kerry region of Cromane who have been told that their entire fishing area is out of bounds, South MEP Colm Burke told the Parliament.

But if they miss this season, they will have no mussels to sell in about 18 months’ time, when the seed would have matured.

The shellfish industry has accused the department of acting illegally and say those employed in the industry will have no option but to emigrate next year.

Richie Flynn of the Irish Farmers Association’s Aquaculture section said: “This action is insane. There is huge demand for our product and the potential to create more jobs, but instead these people are facing a dole queue or will have to leave the area next year.”

The Department of Fisheries says it needs to close the areas to carry out studies as required under EU directives signed up to by the Government more than ten years ago.

But Mr Burke challenged this claim in the parliament and accused Government of misrepresenting the situation to cover up its failures.

The fact of the matter was, he said, that the Government got €5 million from the EU several years ago to carry out the research and there was no issue of closing down traditional mussel-dredging activities.

But despite having three or four years to carry out the studies, they were never done and the money had to be returned to the EU.

“Considerable blame has been placed on the EU, with the usual clichés of ‘overweening bureaucracy’ being bandied about. However, it was actually the fault of the national administration that sat on their hands instead of implementing a law that would have benefited business, consumers and the environment,” he told the parliament.