Minister urged to compensate fishermen affected by storms

Fine Gael has called on the Government to compensate fishermen affected by continuing bad weather, which has kept much of the inshore fleet in port for the past three months.

Mr Michael Finucane, the Fine Gael spokesman on the marine, said some of the whitefish skippers and crew had not been able to put to sea for the last 13 weeks, imposing severe financial hardship on their families.

Industry representatives, who are due to meet the Minister for the Marine and Natural Re sources, Dr Woods, on the issue over the next two days, have said this has been one of the worst autumn and winter periods for storms in living memory.

The Irish Fish Producers' Organisation and the Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation will press the case in the first of the round of meetings in Dublin today.

The Minister has already said that his hands are tied by EU legislation, but has indicated that the case of inshore vessels will be treated sympathetically. Claims will have to be substantiated by Met Eireann weather data, and may be constrained by EU regulations, Dr Woods told The Irish Times.

The European Commission opposes compensation in an industry where bad weather is seen as an occupational hazard. Many smaller vessels in ports from Greencastle, Co Donegal to Dunmore East, Co Waterford have not recorded a full week's fishing in over three months, according to industry spokesmen.

The Irish South and West Fishermen's Organisation (IS&WFO) has called on the Minister to visit ports to view the full extent of the problem.

More than 500 shore jobs in net-mending, fish-packing and processing have also been affected around the coast, according to the IS&WFO.

The manager of the Galway and Aran Fishermen's Co-Op, Mr Bryan Casburn, said smaller boat owners had been particularly hard hit. However, the larger vessels which had braved the weather had damaged gear, and the quality of landings had also been affected, he added. In Co Waterford, Mr Tom Fewer of the Dunmore East Fishermen's Co-Op said sales were down by 25 per cent for the last quarter. He acknowledged that bad weather spells were good for fish prices, but the positive effect was only temporary, he said.

The industry spokesmen have called on Dr Woods to issue compensation similar to that delivered by the then marine minister, Mr Andrews, five years ago after a bad weather spell.

They also point to the recent assistance of more than £1 million given to skippers and crews affected by a global price crisis in the herring fishery during the 1997/1998 season.

The Minister has denied that this was compensation, and says it related to training designed to improve quality.