Fishermen begin quota battle in Brussels

IRELAND’S small island and inland fishermen are siding with the European Commission and environmentalists against the Government and the big fishing interests at the annual battle for fish quota.

Negotiations begin today in Brussels and are expected to last into the early hours of Wednesday morning over who gets what share of fish stocks that all admit are under more pressure than ever.

But Donegal fisherman Jerry Early says he and his fellow island and inshore colleagues are down to their last throw of the dice because the government has ignored their interests in favour of the big trawlers.

Fishing out of boats less than 12 metres in length they cannot move from one area to another to chase the fish, he explained.

The area off Donegal with its dozens of islands depending on fishing is now off limit for 90% of the fish species they traditionally fished.

Four years ago when salmon fishing was banned they were down to crab and lobster. “As we warned at the time, these are now seriously overfished and we cannot make a living from them,” he said.

The big trawlers that can spend days at sea can follow the fish and take them hundreds of kilometres away where there is no ban.

“We cannot go the distance in boats 10 to 12 metres long. We have our backs to the wall now. There are 500 people left on Arranmore Island and the numbers are dropping fast here and on the other islands,” he said.

They want to do away with the one rule for all agreements reached at EU level. Instead they want the experts to look at what — given their small size — they could take from the sea without inflicting harm on the survival rates of species.

They are being supported by the Irish Wildlife Trust and the worldwide fish conservation body, Ocean 2012 whose experts will be on the sidelines of negotiations. Spokesperson Mike Walker said: “The department told us last week when we met them that they will not be following the Commission’s proposals which is based on science.”

Pádraic Fogarty of the Trust was critical of the way the Government sets its priorities. “We have no idea why they fight for a particular quota or who benefits and how the quota is distributed” he said adding that they don’t take the interests of the small fishermen, the fish or the environment into account.

The Federation of Irish Fishermen (FIF) which represents most of the 12 metre plus fishing fleet, said they want to ensure that the damaging elements of the Commission’s proposals are stopped or amended.

The proposed cuts to species on which the fishing and processing industry depend such as mackerel, whiting, herring and cod would severely affect them, said FIF chairman Eibhlín O’Sullivan.