Rose Conway-Walsh: Demands reset for Ireland's failing fishing policy
Rose Conway-Walsh criticised the EU common fisheries policy and the government’s handling of Ireland’s fishing industry, calling it an "absolute abject failure" and saying the sector has suffered "deaths by a thousand cuts". She called for a radical reset of fishing policy and asked the minister to pause proposed measures and carry out proper consultation with local communities.
Main allegations
She said the 1996 Hague preferences have failed to guarantee Irish access to fish in Irish waters, and accused France, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands of banding together to prevent even a vote on those protections. She argued successive governments allowed the EU arrangements to disadvantage Irish fishing communities.
Local impact and criminalisation
She described long-term harm in coastal counties such as Mayo, saying large trawlers were allowed to behave recklessly while fishermen and fishing families faced criminalisation. She characterised the situation as a shock to the system that must be corrected.
EU cooperation and quota concerns
Referencing Sinn Féin's fishing spokesperson, Deputy Parag MacLachlan, she said EU-based cooperation was allegedly complicit in investing in fleets in third countries and benefiting from inflated quotas, while fishing families and communities suffered the consequences.
Requested action and demands
She asked the minister to visit Mayo to meet anglers and draft-net licence holders and to halt proposals for the coming season until there is proper consultation with fishermen and tourist bodies and a full impact assessment. She warned that measures affecting areas such as the Moy complex - "60 miles of rivers, 12 fisheries, 115 rivers and 20 lakes" - would have severe local consequences.
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Minister, what we've seen over the last few weeks is an absolute abject failure of the common fisheries policy. Even the 1996 Hague preferences have failed. That was the very mechanism that was set up to guarantee Ireland a minimum level of fish to catch in our own waters. That's what it would have meant. But France, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands banded together to ensure that not even a vote could be taken on it. But the truth is, Minister, that Ireland's fishing industry has suffered deaths by a thousand cuts. I come from Mayo, a huge coastal county. I have seen and watched it over the years. And I've watched it to see, you know, along with the fishing families, to see huge trawlers behave absolutely reckless because they were allowed to do it. They were legally allowed to do it. And then we have the criminalisation of fishermen and fishing families at the same time. So it shouldn't be a surprise to us what has happened here, but it is an absolute shock. It's a shock to the system and it's a shock that has to be corrected. The truth is, Minister, that the EU has failed Ireland's fishing industry repeatedly, but so has the government. You know, the EU got used of successive governments allowing it to happen, allowing it to happen over and over again. And as our Sinn Féin's fishing spokesperson, Deputy Parag MacLachlan, said earlier, the EU-based cooperation is allegedly complicit in investing in fleets in third countries and benefiting from inflated quotas, while fishing families and fishing communities have to suffer. We need an absolute radical reset of the fishing industry and of fishing across the board. I want to take the opportunity as well, Minister, to tell you what is happening and to ask you to come up to Mayo to meet with the anglers and the draft net licence holders there. Because what government is attempting to do is to do an absolute blanket ban on fishing. Even if we take, like, the Moy complex, 60 miles of rivers, 12 fisheries, 115 rivers and 20 lakes. I'm asking you, Minister, will you put what you're proposing to do for the coming season on hold to have proper consultation with the fishermen, with the tourist bodies, and to have a proper impact assessment on what you're proposing to do there. Can you please put it on hold while this consultation takes place to hear the severe impact that this would have? It cannot be allowed to happen. Am I sure...
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