Conor D McGuinness warns Irish fishing industry 'on its knees'
Conor D McGuinness warned the Irish fishing industry is "on its knees" after the AgriFish meeting in December set quotas he called the deepest and most severe shock the sector has faced. He accused the Taoiseach of failing to provide political support, said the Minister of State went into negotiations without that backing, and called for urgent measures to sustain fishers while stocks rebuild.
AgriFish quotas and industry impact
The AgriFish meeting in December set quotas for the European fishing fleet that McGuinness described as the deepest and most severe shock to the Irish fishing industry. He said the sector is "on its knees, on the ropes" and warned its demise is imminent unless action is taken, citing a 70% reduction in the pelagic stock that has removed much of what is available to fish.
Government response and political support
McGuinness recounted meetings on 3 December with industry representatives and on 11 December with a working group of Committee Cahirlic, where he urged the Taoiseach to build political support at European level. He said a Freedom of Information request from a colleague seeking outgoing correspondence and logs suggests the Taoiseach did not act, and he criticised the decision to allow the Minister of State to conduct negotiations without political backing.
Overfishing and stock decline
He attributed the fundamental problem to overfishing by Norwegian and non-EU actors with agreements with the EU, rather than Irish fishers, and linked that overfishing to conservation measures arising from research. McGuinness described the 70% fall in the pelagic stock as catastrophic and said it has a devastating impact on incomes and coastal communities.
Calls for supports and EU engagement
McGuinness called for the design of supports to sustain the fishing industry over the coming years while fish stocks are replenished. He also urged more robust engagement with the European Union about neighbouring countries he said are raiding North Atlantic stocks and stressed the need for political action to protect Ireland's coastal communities.
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The AgriFish meeting in December last year, which quotas were set for this year for the entire European fishing fleet, was the deepest and most severe shock that the Irish fishing industry has ever faced. It's on its knees, it's on the ropes, and its demise is imminent unless there is action taken. On the 3rd of December you met with Irish fishing industry representatives. On the 11th of December you met with the working group of Committee Cahirlic, where I implored you to give your political support and to take action to build political support at European level. And a couple of days later, Ireland was isolated at European level and the Irish fishing industry was once again sacrificed on the altar of European commercial fishing interests. Now, Taoiseach, my colleague Deputy Padre MacLachlan submitted a Freedom of Information request to your office, seeking all outgoing correspondence, calls, logs, memos relating to it. And it seems to me that you didn't lift a finger, lift a phone or do a tap to build that political support. You allowed your Minister of State, Timmy Dooley, to go into those negotiations without any political support from you as head of government. And it's not good enough and the Irish fishing industry and coastal communities have suffered because of your failure to take political action. In terms of Deputy McGuinness, again, the fundamental problem which you failed to articulate is the research in respect of overfishing, not by Irish fishers, but by Norwegian and by non-EU actors who have agreements with the EU, is the fundamental reason why Irish fishing is in deep crisis at the moment. 70% reduction in the pelagic stock, not available now for fishing because of conservation. Sorry, Deputy. Deputy, this is not the forum, Deputy. Sorry. Deputy McGuinness. Sorry. It's not a back and forth. Bottom line. It's not a back and forth. No, I'm not. You know I'm telling the truth. And the same in the problem there in terms of significance. Sorry. No, that's the fundamental issue. If you look at the income that we lose now because of not being able to fish, because of the conservation efforts that have arised because of the research, what we have to do now, and I've met with the fishing industry, we have to devise supports for the fishing industry that can sustain them over the next number of years while fish stocks are replenished. We also have to work harder and robustly with the European Union in terms of what is it doing with other neighbouring countries who are raiding the fishing stocks within the North Atlantic, within Europe more generally. And that's a big issue because there's no question it's been overfished with the result of a 70% reduction in what's available to fish. That's catastrophic. That's not because of negotiations. That's always been accepted, whatever the research shows. And that's having a devastating impact. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
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