Minister promises action on fishing safety

NEW fisheries safety measures will be presented to the Government for approval this month, according to the Minister for the Marine.

Mr Barrett was responding to concerns from the Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation (KFO) that there appeared to be no moves to implement the recommendations of the Government commissioned report on fishing vessel safety. The report, published two months ago, made 63 recommendations.

Mr Joey Murrin, of the KFO, said fishermen "are starting to ask is this another report to gather dust in Department of the Marine headquarters".

Mr Barrett said, however, that he wanted to reassure fishermen that he and the Department were giving "top priority" to preparing a programme for the implementation of the recommendations. "Intense analysis has been under way over the past two months," he said.

When the report was published, the Minister promised that it would not gather dust. The Department has pointed out, however, that because there were 63 recommendations they cannot all be implemented at once.

The report followed a number of fishing tragedies, including the disappearance of the fishing vessel, the Carrickatine, with six crew off Donegal last November.

Mr Murrin said "the clear signal emerging from the report is that the vast majority of the Irish demersal (white fish) fleet is unproductive. uncompetitive, poorly equipped and more concerning that many boats, from a safety point of view, should not be at sea".