Representatives of the offshore fishing industry brought their complaints about the EU Common Fisheries Policy to the Government yesterday and demanded that the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, should raise their concerns at a meeting of the Heads of Government, in Copenhagen, on Friday.
Their concerns are very real. Conservation measures proposed by the EU Commission could put many of them out of business and seriously affect the economies of coastal communities. Their protest coincided with the closure of prawn, megrim and pollack fisheries because the Irish catch quotas have been filled.
In all of this, successive Irish governments - rather than the EU - are to blame. There has been a long history of trading our undeveloped fishery interests in order to secure advantages for agriculture. Lack of Government interest in fisheries was demonstrated some months ago when the Taoiseach initially dropped the title "Marine" from the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. A subsequent change in title did not, however, bring about any modification in official thinking. And the Estimates published for next year show an 8 per cent reduction in spending on sea fishing and aquaculture development; a 27 per cent cut in marine research funding; and a whopping 52 per cent decline in investment on harbours and infrastructure. Given that context, the Minister responsible, Mr Dermot Ahern, will have difficulty in convincing his EU colleagues that offshore fisheries represent a vital national interest.
Each year, with depressing regularity, the Commission - under pressure from member states - ignores its scientific advice and allocates excessive catch quotas. And, each year, those quotas are flagrantly breached. Major commercial fish stocks are now at the point of collapse as too many vessels chase too few fish. There is pressure from Spain to open up the "Irish Box", where stocks are still relatively healthy. And those countries with the largest fishing fleets - Spain, France and Portugal - are determined not to be disadvantaged by any conservation policies.
Last month, the Fisheries Commissioner, Franz Fischler, spoke of closing down the cod, haddock and whiting fisheries around our coasts, in order to protect stocks and to give them time to recover. It was softening-up talk, designed to make less extreme measures acceptable to our fishermen. Since then, he has concentrated on the need to reduce commercial catches along with the amount of discarded, unwanted fish. The Irish fishing industry believes the quota system has failed. It has urged conservation measures that would increase the mesh size of nets, limit fishing times, establish nursery areas and introduce regional management structures. Some of those proposals have been accepted by the Commissioner. Their implementation will, of necessity, bring hardship. But that hardship must not fall disproportionately on Irish fishermen, in Irish waters.