Once again, we have to congratulate The Irish Times and Lorna Siggins for the in-depth interview on the fishing industry with Madame Bonino, the EU Fisheries Commissioner.
As members of a delegation from the Irish Fisherman's Federation, we met her in Dublin a short time ago, where we made a case for the Irish fishing industry. Personally, we found her courteous, patient, a good listener and well informed on figures about Ireland, but her philosophy and concepts are anathema to us. if they were to come to pass they would wipe out Ireland's whitefish industry, the populations that depend on it directly and indirectly. Our European "partners" would continue to take £2 billion a year from Irish waters - while the stocks last. Ireland would not gain one penny from this robbery.
Let us challenge a few of her views. Conservation is the battlecry which she and other EU figures use, and everyone has to agree with that. If this is so, why did the EU allow 40 extra Spanish vessels into Ireland's coastal waters from January 1st, 1996? This wasn't supposed to happen until the year 2002. This is in addition to the 140 large, all-weather, English-registered, Spanish-owned fishing vessels that already pillage our waters.
Ireland, with 16 per cent of EU waters, has a mere five per cent of the quotas (2.5 per cent by value) and 2.5 per cent of the fleet. We have only 125 whitefish vessels over 20 metres, and they preach us "conservation"!
Our 30-year-old whitefish boats, because of their small size and the weather experienced on our Atlantic coasts, lose a considerable amount of fishing time every year because of the weather. The Irish fleet is not the cause of overfishing and must not provide the solution. Not alone will we not take cuts, but we must be allowed to expand to the capacity of our waters.
Madame Bonino says Ireland should process more of its fish. We agree with this - for certain species. Irish processors have made big strides in recent years, but a lot more remains to be done. When the commissioner says there will be a review of the common fisheries policy, which will be "wide open", we hope she is right. She rejects the proposition that the Treaties of Accession for Sweden, Finland, etc., effectively negate any review and have handed a veto power to Spain.
Having taken legal advice and consulted Mr Sean Barrett, Minister for the Marine, and his officials, we will return to this topic at another time.
The Maastricht Treaty enshrines the principle of subsidiarity - i.e. decisions should be taken and actions implemented at the lowest effective level. Yet Brussels is working towards a single European fleet controlled from Brussels, where Ireland would be controlled on every issue.
We are not allowed to rebuild our fleet. Spain, in the meantime, is to receive £509 million for restructuring and modernisation, and £325 million for early retirement and income support for fishermen. We fear her, and Brussels's, idea of regional management means that in Ireland's waters, France and Spain have been allocated the majority of the catch and we should sit down and discuss it with them. How do you think the voting would go?
There will be no peace and no fish unless, and until, a real regional management system is put in place. This means that each coastal state controls and is responsible for its exclusive fishing zone out to 200 miles. We appeal to Irish politicians (including MEPs) of all shades to set aside their bickering and concentrate mightily on procuring justice for Ireland in this great national asset, before it is too late.
- Yours, etc.,
Irish South & West Fishermen's Organisation, Castletownbere, Co Cork.