Sir, – The old red herring of the loss of Irish fishing rights via the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy is trawled up again by Paul Harvey (December 1st). Contrary to Mr Harvey’s belief, the Irish fishing industry – or rather its main player Atlantic Dawn Group – continues to do remarkably well thanks to Irish membership of the EU.
Bilateral agreements, negotiated between the EU and third countries, have enabled the fleet to fish ever further from European shores. This is clearly a major boon for the EU fleet as many European fish stocks are now at critically low levels. It is particularly beneficial for Atlantic Dawn and its titanic trawlers, which include the world’s biggest freezing trawler (thanks to an exemption negotiated from EU rules on trawler size).
How this is squared with the lost rights of coastal communities and subsistence fishermen in these developing countries, who are dependent on fishing for their livelihoods, is another matter of course. – Yours, etc,