By Dan Walsh at Kilmore Quay
The fishing industry faces challenges from unpredictable weather, reduced EU quotas, and the existence of different quotas for boats using the same fishing grounds.
I visited Kimore Quay today, where there are 23 trawlers and 25 lobster boats. Add the shoreline facilities and fishing supports around 500 jobs and contributes an estimated €35 million to the local economy each year.
Seamus O’Flaherty, part owner of OF Fishing located on the Quay gave an example of quota differences for Area 7a (Irish Sea) for Sole; Belgium 279 tonnes, UK 96 tonnes, Holland 88 tonnes and Ireland 69 tonnes.
Fishers who break the quota rules can find themselves facing criminal charges. Armed Gardaí have conducted raids and searches, taken away computers and other data in searches of offices in Kilmore Quay. “The laws are impossible to comply with, and skippers and trawler owners are regularly before the Central Criminal Court,” stated Mr. O’Flaherty
Recently, an EU fishery patrol boat with Irish, Finnish, and Latvian crew boarded a local vessel from Kilmore Quay about 50 nautical miles off the south coast. They measured cod ends and confiscated them. It is likely that a criminal case will be taken against the skipper.
Then there are problems out a sea. Different boats using the same fishing grounds are subject to different quotas depending on their country of origin.
Cllr Jim Codd, who has been an advocate for the local fishers said you can’t catch Black Sole but if they come up in the nets you can’t throw them back, you must land them and register them and possibly face criminal charges.
Rising fuel prices due to the Middle East war are making it more costly for the fishing industry to deliver fish nationwide.
Cllr Codd noted Kimore Quay’s historic role as a fishing village and urged the government and EU to review the quota system for fairer treatment of Ireland.
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