Call for marine minister as group says industry in crisis

Fishing representative organisations say the "industry is in crisis" and are calling on political parties to appoint a designated marine minister in the next government.

Chairperson of the Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation Ciarán Doherty said his crew will be "lucky to have two months fishing next year", as Ireland is set to receive its lowest historical share of Europe’s mackerel quota since the formation of the EU.

Irish Fish Producers and Exporters Organisation CEO Aodh O'Donnell said next year mackerel fishermen are facing a 22% quota decrease, resulting in an €18 million loss in the value of landings at Killybegs Harbour, which is home to the national pelagic fleet.

Mr O’Donnell said the industry’s key electoral call is for a dedicated Minister for the Marine, stating that the current portfolio is "way too broad".

"We need somebody to represent us full time in a ministry, to defend and negotiate because we’re very often walking away with the crumbs of the table at European level.

"We’ve the richest waters in Europe. We've got 12% of the waters, but less than 6% of the quota. Our neighbours are benefiting at our expense," Mr O'Donnell said.

Mr Doherty echoed those sentiments, adding: "We thought Brexit was bad enough when we lost 25% of our mackerel quota, but we've lost the same again in the last four years.

"Most of the crew were under 30 when I started fishing, now the average age is about 60 years of age.

"Unless we have a proper quota, we won’t entice the next generation."

Six of the main fishing representative organisations have joined forces to call on election candidates and parties to implement eight actions to "save the fishing industry", if elected.

The sectoral demands include the appointment of a designated Minister for the Marine, a renegotiation of the Common Fisheries Policies and safeguarding of fishing stocks.

The representative organisations included in the coalition include the Irish Islands Marine Resource Organisation, the Irish South and East Fish Producers Organisation, the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation, the National Inshore Fishermen's Organisation, the Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation, the Irish Fish Producers’ Organisation and Irish Fish Producers and Exporters Organisation.

Why is there a decrease in mackerel quota?

The EU has fisheries agreements with Nordic nations including bilateral, trilateral and neighbouring agreements covering the North Sea and the Atlantic.

Fishing representative organisations are concerned that Nordic nations have been setting 'excessive' national unilateral quotas and have used this as leverage in EU negotiations.

The European Commission calculates annual total allowable catches (quotas) for fish based on scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).

ICES which is headquartered in Copenhagen is a leading multidisciplinary scientific forum on all aspects of marine sciences in the North Atlantic.

Last Autumn ICES advised the European Commission that unilateral quotas for mackerel resulted in catches exceeding scientific advice by a 40% average since 2010.

ICES advised the commission to reduce the total allowable mackerel catch by 22% next year "mainly due to the decline in, and downward revision of, the stock size".

Following the ICES advice, the EU’s Pelagic Advisory Council warned the European Commission if urgent action was not taken that the exploitation of the mackerel stock will have long-term detrimental impacts on the EU fishing industry.

The Pelagic Council urged the commission to intensify its diplomatic efforts, particularly through the "high-level dialogue group between the European Union and Norway".

It said, in the letter seen by RTÉ News, that: "A firm and coordinated diplomatic stance will be essential to reach an agreement that halts the trend of third countries setting excessive unilateral quotas, entering into partial agreements using their inflated self-declared quotas as currency and restores balance in the management of this crucial stock."

Following the Pelagic Council’s warning, Irish fishing leaders called for a ban on Norwegian vessels in Irish waters - a call Norwegian fishing vessel owners said was "unreasonable and erroneous".

Mr Doherty believes "Nordic nations are getting the lion's share of quota and Ireland through the EU has been getting a declining share year-on-year while other nations expand their fishery".

Mr Doherty says that Nordic nations are building more boats and more processing capacity while they are being forced to tie at the walls of Killybegs Harbour for at least nine months of the year.

Mr O’Donnell says it is absurd that the EU has negotiated "soft deals with Norway allowing them catch three times our quota of blue whiting off the west coast of Ireland while they overfish mackerel stocks".

Mr O'Doherty said the previous government "knew all the ills of the fishing industry because we’ve told them what’s wrong.

"They [outgoing Government] are well versed in it. The EU is not defending the rights of Irish fishermen.

"There are tools at their [EU's] disposal they can use to fix this.

"We feel that an Irish government must become more vocal and call out the EU or our downward trend will continue. That’s what we will be expecting of whatever government is in place after this election," Mr O'Doherty added.

'No work this side of Christmas'

The impact of declining quotas is felt in Killybegs, a town home to Ireland’s only dedicated blue economy marine cluster.

Dylan Kyles who returned home several years ago to raise his family, fishes on a local trawler and is the third generation of his family in Killybegs.

"We only have six to seven fishing trips for the year amounting to about 40 days at sea.

"If we look at Marine Traffic [vessel tracking website] there are Belgian, French, Spanish boats fishing off our coast every day. Killybegs should be a vibrant fishing town, it’s not anymore."

Mr Kyles recalled November in years gone by as "a very busy time in Killybegs between the fish factories, pubs and hotels".

He said factory wages used to pay for Christmas for a lot of people whereas now "there is no work this side of Christmas".

"Everybody was working. Anybody that wasn't working didn't want to work. Now, there's just no work.

"It’s affecting ordinary people. It's very sad to see young people are leaving for Australia, Canada, England because there's no work for them.

"I’m the third generation of my family in this town. My children will be the fourth but there's no future here for them. That's sad."

Mr Kyles believes the fishing industry is suffering because "it's all been given away to Europe and there's no political will to take it back".

'Tied to the pier'

Denis Carbery, who has been fishing over 40 years from Killybegs Harbour, said emigration and unemployment are the biggest changes he has seen in his hometown.

"When I started, we were fishing 11 months a year. Now, we're down to about two months a year. We're watching all the foreign vessels landing here, while we’re tied to the pier nine months of the year. It’s hugely frustrating.

"When I was younger there was more people working in Killybegs than living here, between fish factories, manufacturing, nets and engineering.

"Fishing determines everything in Killybegs. It doesn’t matter if you're a shopkeeper or a publican or a hotel owner. Everything deteriorates when there's no fishing.

"The rest of Europe realise the value of the fishing industry, our own Government doesn't seem to realise it. Fish is our richest natural resource. The industry should be growing instead of contracting," he said.