Michael Clifford: Much of the fishing crisis is a problem of our own making

A report completed last year by consultants PWC concluded that “the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority is not working effectively and requires urgent attention"

A flotilla of fishing vessels in Cork city centre as fishermen unite to raise awareness and seek the support of the public. Picture: Larry Cummins

It's not all bad news in the fishing business. Yesterday’s flotilla protest in Cork, in which dozens of fishing vessels sailed into the harbour, was a dramatic expression of the fear and worry permeating the industry. 

The protest was, for the greater part, populated by relatively small operators who are really feeling the pinch.

Meanwhile, the head of the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, Susan Steele, has been appointed as executive director of the European Fisheries Control agency.

This is a super-duper job with a super-duper salary, based in Vigo, Spain, many miles from the storm clouds now gathering over the Irish industry.

Her appointment was greeted with the kind of nationalistic flag-waving that emanates from official quarters any time one of our own heads off to Europe. Sure, aren’t we a great little country all the same, punching above our weight in the EU?

Dr Susan Steele, the head of the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority,  has been appointed as executive director of the European Fisheries Control agency based in Vigo, Spai.

Ms Steele has an impressive record, but she is leaving the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) precisely at a time when some ugly gales are about to blow through Irish fishing. 

One of the main grievances that the protesting fishers had yesterday was a ruling by the EU that catches could no longer be weighed at factories, but must instead be calculated at the pier where the fish are landed. 

This is a major financial wallop to all who earn their living in the business.

Patrick Murphy, chief executive of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation, told the Irish Examiner’s Maresa Fagan earlier this month that the ruling was “an absolute disaster”.

It seems that the EU has determined it can no longer trust the Irish authorities — principally the SFPA — to police quotas. 

Exceeding quotas is effectively stealing, and involves conning the EU, the taxpayer, and the Irish and European consumer.

An audit conducted in 2019 uncovered major shortcomings in the policing of quotas by the authority. 

The audit was prompted by an investigation the previous year into irregularities in weighing practices emanating from Killybegs. That investigation ruled that the system in place allowed plenty of room for fraud.

“Although aware of these shortcomings, Ireland did not take appropriate measures to address such non-compliance,” the report states.

Therefore, Ireland could not guarantee an effective control of landed quantities of catches and minimise the risk of non-compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy.

The subsequent audit confirmed the EU’s fears: It revealed that 33 cases of possible fraud were referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) by the SFPA over a four-year period, yet none resulted in prosecution, either because of a lack of evidence or undue delay. 

Imagine for a second that a superintendent of An Garda Síochána sends 33 files to the DPP over a period and all return with a “no prosecution” sticker. Would alarm bells ring in Garda HQ?

There were no alarm bells in the SFPA and neither did they ring in the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine, where fishing policy is formed.

So you can’t really blame the EU for ruling that this country isn’t to be trusted to uphold the law on fishing.

The EU is not the only outfit which believes the policing of fishing is being done with less than optimum efficiency. 

A report completed last year by consultants PWC concluded that “the SFPA is not working effectively and requires urgent attention".

“Relationships and trust have been impacted by a range of issues, including some long-standing industrial relations issues which have not been resolved... these issues are impacting on performance and the organisation is not operating as a cohesive unit.”

Fishermen at the Taoiseach Micheal Martin's Cork constituency office to hand over a letter highlighting the plight of the industry. Picture: Larry Cummins

In such a milieu, there should be no surprise that the EU is putting on the clamps.

Notably, the audit focused on the big operators in the pelagic fish sector. 

Yet the EU ruling is to be applied to all fishers, big and small, because the industry is governed by a single control plan.

The big boys and girls will, for the greater part, weather the storm now building. The small guy, who was largely represented in yesterday’s flotilla, may not — and will certainly take a major financial hit as a result of the new dispensation.

There will be no accountability for how things have come to this pass.

Major questions still need to be answered on what policy was being followed in the years when the SFPA was all at sea:

• What influence or power was wielded by the department over the SFPA? 
• Why was the authority apparently lenient towards transgressions by the major operators? 
• Why did some fishers appear to repeatedly ignore the law as evidenced by the creation of 33 files of alleged non-compliance? 
• Were blind eyes turned because somebody, somewhere perceived the national interest was in conflict with national obligations to the European Union? 
• Did anybody really think the country could get away with this?

The good news though is that one of our own is installed in a big job in Europe.

We really are a great little country.