Republican News · Thursday 14 November 2002

Ferris slams threat to Irish fishing

BY ROBBIE MaCGABHANN

gry fishermen blockaded two Irish ports this week after hearing of EU Commission proposals to allow free access to Irish fishing waters by other EU states. Harbours at Castletownbere in Cork and Dingle in Kerry were blockaded by Irish fishermen who oppose EU proposals they believe will give Spanish trawlers unrestricted access to Irish territorial waters and the last protected fish stocks in EU waters.

Tension was already high among the fishermen after an Irish trawler, the Carmona, had been arrested by the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources last Friday for allegedly exceeding its quota.

The latest EU proposals, which are in the form of a legal opinion on the status of the Irish Box, suggest that the Irish territorial waters will be open to unrestricted use from 1 January 2003. The Irish Box was created in 1985 as a means to protect the Irish fishing industry by limiting the amount of trawlers from other EU states that could fish in Irish territorial waters.

It has had the added bonus of protecting fish stocks within the area. Compare this to the heavily fished North Sea. An EU report published this week showed that cod, haddock and whiting stocks in the North Sea are on the verge of collapse and an independent group of scientists has recommended a total ban on fishing these species.

FLAWED POLICY

The shift in the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) position on the Irish Box came as a shock to Irish Fishing organisations, who have been responding to years of EU demands to conserve stocks.

In fact, the CFP is currently under review and Franz Fishler, EU Commissioner on Agriculture and Fisheries, has admitted that the EU's current policy is flawed. In the context of its impact on the Irish fishing industry, flawed does not even come close and Sinn Féin's spokesperson on fisheries, Martin Ferris TD, has expressed his concern on this crucial issue.

Ferris sought with other TDs to have Leinster House order of business halted so the TDs could debate "the proposal that unrestricted fishing be allowed in the 50-mile Irish Box conservation area and the serious implications which this will have for the future of the Irish fishing industry". His motion was not allowed by the Ceann Comhairle.

Ferris said: "I will be pressing the minister to explain how long he has been aware of this proposal and what steps he intends to take to ensure that this doesn't take place.

"It would be particularly ironic if this was to be put in place at a time of renewed concern over stocking levels which have been greatly depleted by over fishing.

"It also makes somewhat of a mockery of Commissioner Fischler's proposals to provide €600 million to cushion fishermen against the effects of reform of fisheries policy and to favour smaller scale operators. None of this will benefit Irish fishermen if our waters are opened up to further exploitation by other EU members."

FLAGS OF CONVENIENCE

The nub of the dilemma facing the Irish fishing fleet is that most vessels are in the 50 to 80 foot category and would be hardest hit by any free for all in the Irish Box.

The Spanish fishing industry is much economically powerful than the Irish sector. One example of this has been the purchase by Spanish fishing concerns of French boats, becoming nominally French as a flag of convenience and then availing of unused French quotas.

Irish fishing organisations fear that opening up the Irish Box would lead to a literal hoovering up of fish stocks by the Spanish fleet. Spanish fishing interests seem to wield enormous influence in the EU debate and there were allegations last February that the Spanish government had been improperly lobbying in favour of their fleet. Irish proposals for a 24-mile limit to protect the inshore fishing fleet have been rejected by the Commission.

This week, Franz Fischler was in Ireland. He said he was opposed to unrestricted fishing in the Irish Box but made it clear that the legal opinion now meant there should be wholesale access to Irish fishing stocks.

DEFINING MOMENT

Speaking to An Phoblacht, Sinn Féin's Martin Ferris said: "In the post-Nice environment this a defining moment. Can Minister Ahern and the coalition government show that they can stand up to the EU's bureaucracy, which is hiding behind directives and protocols while it seems clear that Spanish interests are driving EU fisheries policy? We need the minister and the government to act both in the review of fisheries policy and at the council of ministers to save not just the Irish Box but fishing as a way of life in Ireland today."

"There is also an all-Ireland dimension to this debate and fishing interests around the whole Irish coast depend on a successful outcome to this review."

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Some fishing facts

While we often hear of the substantial sums which have come to this state in the form of EU direct payments in the past 30 years, little reference is made to the massive contribution Irish fisheries have made to the EU over the same period.

It is estimated that somewhere in the region of 36 million tonnes of fish, worth €120 billion, have been taken from Irish waters since 1973. At present, half of all fish consumed in the EU comes from Irish waters, and yet while this state claims jurisdiction over 16% of EU fishing waters, Irish fishermen catch only 4% of the EU total.

Sinn Féin has long argued that the deal made regarding fishing amounted to the biggest betrayal of national interests on this state's entry into the EU. That position has continued to be eroded and is once again under renewed threat under the current proposal to open up the 50-mile Irish Box conservation area.

What Sinn Féin wants

As part of a concerted effort to reclaim our fisheries and protect the interests of Irish fishermen, Sinn Féin proposes:

Total opposition to any attempt to open up the Irish Box

Regulation of tonnage and megawatts to end speculation by the small number of big operators who control the market

State support for locally based cooperatives to assist in the processing and marketing of Irish seafood