DONEGAL fishermen have criticised the Minister of State for the Marine, Mr Eamon Gilmore, over his apparent failure to make a strong commitment towards the whitefish fleet.
"Coming from a Democratic Left TD, it is particularly hard to take," said Mr Andrew Ward, chairman of the Foyle Fishermen's Co-op in Greencastle.
The junior minister, who is primarily responsible for aquaculture and ports, spelled out Government policy on the future of the Irish fishing industry at a seminar in Glandore, Co Cork, last week.
The Government's priorities during the EU Presidency would focus on conservation, control and enforcement of the Common Fisheries Policy and the EU problem of overfishing and overcapacity, Mr Gilmore said. He "also reiterated that the Government would oppose the Commission proposals to cut the community fleet by up to 40 per cent over six years.
However, it was the Minister of State's reference to his Government's - rather than EU - policy which aroused the anger of the Foyle Fishermen's Co-op chairman. His statement that the Government would be "seeking to maintain current capacity in the pelagic (mackerel/herring) sector" and would "also press the right" to modernise the whitefish fleet was simply not good enough, Mr Ward said.
"We welcome this commitment to the pelagic sector, which will allow it to diversify into non-quota species like blue whiting, horse mackerel and Atlantic redfish," Mr Ward said. "But we demand an equally strong undertaking for the whitefish sector, which has been neglected by successive governments."
