Lucrative mackerel fishery faces wipe-out, warns Murrin

MACKEREL IS the “new gold” but Ireland’s €1 billion fishery in the stock faces “wipe-out” due to overfishing by Iceland and the Faroe Islands, former fishermen’s leader Joey Murrin has warned.

Mr Murrin has called on Minister for the Marine Simon Coveney to “take the gloves off” with the EU Commission on the issue following the collapse of the latest round of talks aimed at managing the shared stock.

“Every mackerel is like a gold bar because the price is now €1,850 a tonne for landings in Norway,” Mr Murrin, former Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation chief executive, said yesterday.

“It’s the lifeblood of Killybegs and Donegal, but the EU has done nothing over the last two years to stop Iceland and the Faroe Islands from multiplying its catch of the stock at our expense.”

Last month Mr Coveney criticised Iceland and the Faroes for their “total disregard” of “responsible management” of the stock and their “unrestrained approach” since 2008.

“Mackerel is Ireland’s single most important fishery and Irish coastal communities have been traditionally dependent on this fishery for many decades. Iceland has no traditional dependence on this stock,” Mr Coveney said in a statement after the collapse of the fifth round of consultations involving the EU, Norway, Iceland and the Faroes.

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, which oversees management of the migratory stock, has expressed serious concern.

Mr Coveney has repeatedly referred to the need for EU sanctions on the two states, but Mr Murrin said the EU had no intention of initiating sanctions without serious pressure.

“The reality is that Britain depends heavily on imports of whitefish from Iceland, and the Faroes are part of Denmark.

“The Netherlands might also be unwilling to take action as Dutch fishing company Parlevliet Van Der Plas has a processing factory on the Faroes handling some 600 tonnes of mackerel a day.”

He said another factory was also planned for the Faroes to handle 1,000 tonnes of mackerel a day.

“As if it is not enough to hijack 30 per cent of the total allowable catch for this fishery, to look for access to EU waters as part of the deal is a bit rich,” he said.

Iceland has increased its mackerel catch from virtually nothing in 2006 to 156,000 tonnes in 2011, while the Faroes had increased its catch six-fold over the last two years to 150,000 tonnes, Mr Murrin said.

“It is obvious that both states are strengthening their position for a bigger share of the catch in future negotiations by overfishing the stock and ignoring international efforts to reach a compromise on the issue.”

Mr Murrin said he supported Fianna Fáíl MEP Pat “the Cope” Gallagher’s efforts to push for sanctions through the European Parliament’s fisheries committee.

“The Killybegs fishing industry has suffered 50 per cent job losses over the past 10 to 15 years through modern technology in the processing industry and fishing activity which has been reduced to approximately five months of the year.

“It would be criminal to allow two countries outside the EU to continue this reckless exploitation of a mackerel stock and put its long-term sustainability in doubt and the economies of fishing communities at risk,” he said, adding, “The time for talking is over.”