Rose Conway-Walsh: Demands Emergency Action After 70% Mackerel Cut
Rose Conway-Walsh addressed the House on the crisis in the fishing industry, urging immediate action after international advice recommended a 70% cut to the mackerel quota. She argued the common fisheries policy is broken and called for emergency negotiations with the European Commission and targeted supports for the inshore sector.
Urgent appeal over quota cuts
Rose Conway-Walsh warned the industry is at breaking point after scientific advice confirmed a 70% reduction in the mackerel quota alongside severe cuts to blue whiting and boarfish. She said these figures are not abstract and represent the difference between survival and collapse for families who have fished from Donegal to Cork and from Mayo to Oxford.
Accusations against non-EU fleets and the EU Commission
She accused non-EU fleets from Norway, Iceland and Russia of reckless overfishing of shared stocks and criticised the EU Commission for expressing concern but taking no effective action. She warned the result is that those who complied with the rules are being punished while others escape accountability.
Economic and community risks
She said the seafood sector could collapse within a year, risking 2,000 jobs and hundreds of millions in exports, and highlighted that Ireland controls 12% of EU waters yet receives less than 6% of the quotas. She described the common fisheries policy as unjust, ineffective and fundamentally anti-Irish, with foreign super-trawlers plundering waters while the domestic fleet is decommissioned.
Demands for emergency measures and policy reset
She demanded the government immediately enter negotiations with the European Commission on an emergency financial package to sustain the industry, and called for a radical reset of the common fisheries policy. She also urged sanctions against states that overfish and transparency around who within the EU benefits from current arrangements.
Inshore sector priorities and legislative asks
She set out Sinn Féin priorities for the inshore fleet, noting almost 2,000 vessels provide over half the employment in the seafood industry. She called for a full revisiting and implementation of the Irish inshore fisheries sector strategy 2019-2023, adequate resourcing for the inshore and islands producers organisation, the National Inshore Fishermen's Association and the Irish Islands Marine Resource Organisation, a fair distribution of mackerel and herring quota, new market and quota opportunities, a continuity grant for the inshore and islands sector, and enactment of the islands fisheries heritage licence bill 2017.
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For months now, we in Sinn Féin and my colleague Parikh MacLachlan have been calling on the government to allow statements on fisheries to take place in this house. So I welcome the opportunity today to finally debate the future of an industry that is absolutely at breaking point. An industry that has been failed by successive governments and abandoned by Brussels. But we now see an accumulation of years of neglect to get to this point where we are in absolute crisis. Across our coastal communities, from Donegal to Cork, from Mayo to Oxford, families who have fished these waters for generations are facing devastation. The latest international scientific advice has confirmed what many feared. A 70% cut to the mackerel quota. Alongside severe reductions to blue whiting and to boarfish. These are not abstract figures. They are the difference between survival and collapse for Irish fishing communities. So let us be clear about what has happened here. For years, non-EU fleets from countries such as Norway, Iceland and Russia, among others, have engaged in reckless overfishing of mackerel and other shared stocks. The EU Commission has stood idly by. Year after year, they have expressed concern, but taken no action. Now the punishment falls not to those who broke the rules, but to those who played by them. Ireland, a state that controls 12% of EU waters, yet receives less than 6% of the quotas, is once again being made to pay the price for the failures of others. The reality is that the common fisheries policy is broken. It is unjust and it is ineffective, and fundamentally anti-Irish. It rewards those who overfish and overpenalise those who protect the resource. It has allowed foreign super-trawlers to plunder our waters while our own fleets are being decommissioned. If the EU continues down this road, our seafood sector could collapse within a year, wiping out 2,000 jobs and hundreds of millions in exports. For fishing communities, such as in my own constituency in Mayo and around the coast, this is an absolute crisis, and that is why Sinn Féin is calling for urgent action. The government must immediately enter negotiations with the European Commission on an emergency financial package to sustain our fishing and seafood industry through this crisis. Those who have been punished for compliance must not be left to sink, while others, while the EU dithers. And secondly, we need a radical reset of the common fisheries policy and for the Irish government to fight for a fair share of our own waters. We also need sanctions against the rogue states that continue to overfish, and we need transparency around who within the EU benefits from these cosy arrangements. It is vital for our fishing industry that our voice in Brussels is finally heard loud and clear. Our message is simple. Enough is enough. The day of polite diplomacy and weak negotiation are over. Ireland's coastal and island communities deserve fairness and sustainability and respect. Our fishermen are not asking for favours. They are asking for justice. They are asking for a future in the industry that built their communities and fed our nation. Sinn Féin will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with them in Brussels and in this house and in every town and village across the island. I want to say a few words about the inshore sector. The inshore fleet is a vital part of our Irish fishing sector with almost 2,000 vessels. They provide over half of the employment in our seafood industry, sustaining coastal communities across the island. We would continue the proud history and tradition of Irish inshore fishing by collaborating with the sector and putting in place supports to ensure the sector's growth. Sinn Féin's priorities for the inshore sector include revisiting, relaunching and implementing the Irish inshore fisheries sector strategy 2019-2023 in full, theme by theme, objective by objective and action by action, by adequately resourcing the recently established inshore and islands producers organisation and the National Inshore Fishermen's Association and the Irish Islands Marine Resource Organisation, working with all sectors of the Irish fishing industry to ensure a fair and reasonable distribution of our mackerel and our herring quota and the quota of other species as they arise, working with inshore fishermen and their representatives to identify new quota and non-quota fishing opportunities, to build and to grow new markets and to identify financial and other types of supports that can be availed of during these turbulent times, developing a continuity grant that can be accessed by the inshore and islands fishing sector to promote growth and revitalise our communities, to enact and implement the islands fisheries heritage licence bill 2017. Minister, we really, really have to take this serious. Thank you, Deborah. Thank you. Thank you.
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