Ferris criticises 'unfair quota system' for Irish fishermen

FISHING INDUSTRY:IRELAND HAS given up far more in the value of fish than it has ever gained from the EU in direct payments, subsidies and structural funds, according to Sinn Féin agriculture and fisheries spokesman.

Martin Ferris said that Ireland nets just 9 per cent of the annual catch from Irish waters. He told ardfheis delegates there was surveillance and inspection of Irish vessels “way out of proportion” to their share of the catch and that the Irish authorities had admitted that “they have little or no power over non-Irish vessels”.

Since 1973, when Ireland joined the then European Economic Community, fish valued at up to €200 billion have been taken from Irish waters, the Sinn Féin Kerry North TD said.

“And even that does not take into account the scale of illegal fishing that still takes place. So for all the talk about how much we owe to Brussels as a means of browbeating us into supporting greater and greater centralisation of power, we have given up far more in the value of fish to other EU fleets than we have gained in direct payments, subsidies and structural funds.” Mr Ferris, who this week will present a report on Irish fisheries to the Oireachtas agriculture and fisheries committee, called for a renegotiation of the common fisheries policy to save the Irish fishery. He added that along with the “unfair quota system” fishermen were also being targeted by Brussels and the Irish authorities “in a matter that many believe criminalises fishermen, but is also designed to force them to give up fishing”. However, it “isn’t all the fault of the EU. No Irish Government since the foundation of the State has invested any resources or energy into developing our fisheries, which in terms of processing, employment and exports could have become a significant economic sector.”

The ardfheis noted that since 1993 the Irish fleet had been reduced by a third with just over 2,400 people now directly employed in the industry in the south.

The motion also noted that “in 2007, of 3,614 inspections of vessels conducted by the Sea Fishery Protection Authority and the Naval Service, 2,270 (63 per cent) were of Irish boats, whereas over 80 per cent of the Irish fish caught in Irish waters are by foreign vessels”.