THE EU’s Common Fisheries Policy is a “Napoleonic aberration” based on “command and control”, according to the founder of the West Cork Sustainable Fisheries Group.
The EU management system has supported “capital-intensive, high-technology” vessels which are “utterly out of proportion to the techniques employed by traditional fishing communities”, said Joe Aston, a west Cork-based fisherman. He has initiated the first branch in west Cork of a new sustainable fisheries association which will be akin in ethos to organic farming and the Slow Food movement, he said.
To date, the EU’s response to over-development has been to “rein in” fishermen with regulations which “steadily throttle” the industry, he said.
According to Mr Aston, last year’s fuel price crisis was a reminder of the advent of peak oil and a warning that “there can be no economic or social stability until the stranglehold of oil-dependence is broken”.
He is proposing research into sail and hydrogen-powered fishing vessels, using lines to fish for tuna, mackerel and pollack. Germany has already developed vessels powered by fuel cells, drawing on recombined hydrogen and oxygen.
Such vessels would sustain fisheries, focusing on small but high-quality and high-value catches. Waste would be minimised, and the system would favour small-scale and localised distribution and processing, Mr Aston said.
In a related development, a new sustainable fishery in albacore tuna developed with Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) and Spanish assistance has received key certification by the international Friend of the Sea organisation.
The fishery could be worth at least €10 million a year, according to BIM. Trials undertaken on the fishery last autumn involved three trips on board two Irish vessels, working with Dr Peter Tyndall and staff of BIM’s western area office in Galway.
The project received considerable assistance from Spanish practitioners of the fishery based in the Galician port of Burela. Ireland has an 8,000 tonne quota for albacore tuna.
“As the Spaniards showed us, you have to fish from dusk to dawn, you have to have patience, and you have to be on the water for the entire season from June to October. This means ensuring boats are well prepared and equipped for trolling, using lines and a visual lure,” Dr Tyndall said.
Dr Tyndall hopes the project will encourage more Irish vessels to get involved. “This is one of the few resources with plenty of quota, no bycatch, no impact on the seabed, low fuel costs,” he said.
The fishery relies on whales to track movements of the albacore. Irish Sea Spray and Woodcock Smokery have been approved to handle the catches.
