EU Fisheries Commission propaganda article makes outrageous claim that Ireland is ‘better off’ under the Common Fisheries Policy
“I challenge the EU Fisheries Commission to find a single person in Ireland who will agree with their claim that it is a ‘myth’ that the Irish fishing industry is worse off now, under the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy, than it previously was…” - Cormac Burke, Irish Fishing & Seafood Alliance
An EU Commission ‘fact sheet’ published just a few weeks ago (June 6th), under the heading ‘Ireland Representation’, will boil the blood of anyone in the Irish fishing industry as it attempts to fool the public into believing that Ireland was some kind of backward village idiot until its fishing industry came under control of the EU and that EU control has helped develop increased productivity, boosted seafood value, and secured a future for the industry.
It is outrageous for the author of the article to try to claim that “the interests of Irish fishermen, fishing communities, the environment and consumers of fish products are supported through the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)” - - this, at the same time as the term CFP has become known in Ireland as the ‘Corrupt Fisheries Policy’ due to its inequality in quota allocations that sees major fisheries powers in the EU have the lions’ share of the quotas in Irish waters while the Irish fishing industry is going bankrupt.
If there are any myths involved in this article then it is trough the blatant avoidance of the facts.
The EU Fisheries Commission is well aware that Ireland holds the richest waters in all of Europe and, despite physically owning over 15% of the EU’s total waters, there can be no justification for the fact that the Commission only allocates around 3.5% of the EU quota in Irish waters to Irish fishing vessels.
This anomaly has seen, over the years, Ireland forced to go through EU-funded fleet reduction schemes (decommissioning) whilst other nations are increasing their vessel numbers to deal with the abundance of EU quota they have in Irish waters.
When the EU pays you to reduce your fleet because they say its not sustainable under the quota levels you’re allocated, while at the same time give other EU nations increased quota allowance in your waters then this is not ‘management’ or ‘helping’ of your industry - it is a strategic enforced takeover of your resources.
One particular example of this is the case of Belgium who this year, with the blessing of the EU Commission, have built additional beam trawler vessels to harvest the 80% sole quota they have in south east Irish waters while the Irish fleet on these same grounds have 4%.
Meanwhile the EU Fisheries Commission are using Irish waters as a bargaining chip with non EU nations such as Norway and Iceland to allow them harvest vast amounts of fish in Irish waters and in return other EU (but not Irish) vessels make a benefit in swapped quotas of other species.
And while all of this is going on, the Irish pelagic fleet are tied up nine months of the year and the Irish pelagic processing industry, and the coastal communities who rely on it for employment, is on the verge of collapse due to the lack of raw material.
A major ‘myth’ in the EU Commission’s article also uses the figures of the 2023 BIM report valuing Irish seafood at €552 million but fails to mention that this now widely bebunked report included, for the first time, the values from the Irish aquaculture sector to mask the reality of the catching and processing sectors in crisis - - and therefore the author of this article should have taken the figures from Ireland’s much more realistic Bord Bia report which records the Irish fishing industry as decreasing in size at an alarming rate, down by over 40% in the past three to five years alone.
Since we can only presume that the author of the EU Commission article is an Irish citizen, since they use the term “our own waters” in the text, then I think those in the Irish fishing industry who are literally losing everything under the EU’s CFP are entitled to know who this person is, who they work for, and what qualifies them to spout such blatant pro EU CFP propaganda.
*****************************************************************
See article & link below
FACTSHEET - 6 June 2024
Ireland lost control of its fisheries when it joined the EU
It’s a common myth that Ireland lost control of its fisheries when it joined the EU back in 1973, but the facts and figures show that this is just a misconception.
As an island nation, fishing is important both culturally and economically to Ireland’s coastal communities.
It’s a common myth that Ireland lost control of its fisheries when it joined the EU back in 1973, but the facts and figures show that this is just a misconception.
A government report from 1970 shows Irish exports of fish and fishery products worth £2.7 million went almost entirely to EU countries and the UK.
Being part of the European Union helped Ireland’s fishing industry develop and by 2023 Irish seafood valued at €552 million was being exported to the EU, the UK, and over 40 other countries around the world.
Up to 1973, Ireland took just 12% of the catch from Irish waters. This figure increased to as much as 40%, and averaged out at 30%, after joining the EU.
Part of the reason for low Irish catches prior to EU membership was our inability to patrol Irish waters, and the lack of legal recognition for the exclusivity of those waters beyond the 12-mile limit.
That changed in 1976, when the Irish Marine Exclusive Economic Zone (link is external) (EEZ) was extended from 12 to 200 miles, and the EU paid for four new fisheries protection vessels so we could patrol our own waters.
The fact is, that during much of the 20th century relentless fishing and marine pollution pushed some fish stocks to the brink of extinction.
Sustainable fishing is now become a matter of survival – not just for fish stocks, but for fishing communities too.
The interests of Irish fishermen, fishing communities, the environment and consumers of fish products are supported through the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).
The CFP not only promotes and implements measures for sustainable fishing, it also supports the economic health of impacted fishing communities as well as initiatives that protect the marine environment from threats such as climate change and the dumping of plastics in our oceans.
Ireland plays an active role in shaping the CFP and has a voice when it comes to proposing legislation.
Comments