Fishermen's representatives in Donegal, Cork and Kerry welcomed yesterday's Garda raids and said they hoped they would remove suspicion of wrongdoing in the industry. Barry Roche, Southern Correspondent, and Paddy Clancy report.
About 50 gardaí were involved in the operation in Killybegs.
Officers from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Bureau of Fraud Investigation set up an incident room in Donegal town, 18 miles from the port.
Mr Jim Bowden, secretary of the Donegal Fish Merchants' Association, said: "Our members will be assisting the investigation, no problem. It's an ongoing investigation and it's early days yet. I would say this is an initial probe."
Mr Jason Whooley, manager of the South and West Irish Fishermen's Organisation, said he hoped the Garda investigation would help remove controversy surrounding the industry.
Mr Whooley said: "Realistically, we have to accept that allegations of irregularities have been made and they have to be investigated by the gardaí - the sooner the investigation is completed the better because these allegations have put a cloud over the entire industry."
Mr Whooley was speaking after teams of detectives from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation from Dublin, backed up by local officers, carried out raids on a number of premises and houses in West Cork and Kerry as part of a national investigation.