With the current period of quiet in the industry in July and August due to so many State, civil servant and semi State bodies on summer holidays, one cannot help but wonder do these figures of ‘authority’ (whilst away sunning themselves on a foreign beach somewhere with the benefit of their overpaid salaries) ever spare as much as a passing thought for the ongoing plight of Irish fishermen and processors in what is their leanest period in living memory?
Editorial comment - Cormac Burke, IFSA
It is a well publicised fact (by the IFSA and a few others) that the Irish fishing industry is being slowly wound down by our own elected politicians and authorities who are clearly working hand-in-hand with EU powers - - and before any minister even suggests conspiracy theory or a denial of this, then just take a look at where we are now compared to seven or eight years ago (and NOT EVERYTHING can be blamed on Brexit and the bungling of negotiations by our own government).
We are living in an era where, despite the impact of Brexit on the EU regime as a whole, every fishing fleet in the EU (and other non EU nations) seem to be surviving well - - indeed they are progressing and developing their fishing industries - - while Ireland has fallen (or is being led ) into an abyss, with quotas falling further every year, numbers of Irish fishing vessels decreasing over time, more and more Irish waters’ quota given to EU fleets…. and recently we’ve even lost the only voice we ever had on the EU Fisheries Committee (for the first time in EU history).
It would be too depressing to launch into the individual complicated statistics for the downturn for each of the inshore, demersal, pelagic and processing sectors but it is enough to summarise it all to say that the inshore sector is trying to survive on the crumbs they have left to them, the demersal fleet has been reduced by a third and still don’t have enough quota (with further predicted quota cuts coming in 2025 to haddock & hake); the pelagic quota and processing sector down by 35 to 40% and, to top it all off, Ireland is being lashed with continuous storms for the past three months, making the earning of a crust even more difficult for fishermen.
In the current downward spiral how long will it be before Irish inshore men have to finally give up and walk away from their traditional livelihood? How long before Irish demersal men will need yet another decommissioning scheme as they are unable to survive? How long before an Irish pelagic fish factory closes permanently? And how long before an Irish pelagic vessel owner realises his business is no longer viable under the current quota allowance and he must sell his boat to a buyer outside of Ireland who will then probably make a fine profit fishing it with non Irish EU quotas back in Irish waters?
And all the while the industry must suffer a marine minister who busies himself in the public eye with trying to enhance his own political image by constantly talking about what he’s done “for the industry” and yet NOT ONE single one of his actions has been of a positive or progressive nature that in any way benefits the industry but is instead centred around cutbacks, reductions, diversifying fishermen into other careers, spending vast amounts of money of huge new piers at the same time as the Irish fleet is reducing in size, and promoting marine tourism infrastructure in traditional fishing ports in what is clearly the start of a planned transition from one industry to another.
In his own opinion this minister claims to be doing a great job for the industry but, as a famous quote goes, “Opinion is the wilderness between knowledge and ignorance” - - and most people in the fishing industry feel that this minister is living in the latter more than the former.
And yet, even forced to the edge of bankruptcy, come next election some will probably vote for this same person, or vote for parties of this same coalition government who are overseeing the gradual dismantling of this industry - - so, one can only wonder, how can anyone have sympathy for the current plight when we complain about the lack of political support for our industry and then re-elect the people who are doling out this mistreatment? - - the phrase ‘Turkeys voting for Christmas’ comes to mind.
People often comment that the age old problem in this industry is that there is a lack of unity and although that’s true to a point, in some ways it’s understandable that certain organisations, while having respect for the work and efforts of fellow representative organisations, at the same time must have the priority for representation of their own members and those in their sector first…
And, perhaps not as widely publicised as it should be, such industry organisations have, and continue to, work together on several issues but often find their joint efforts are in vain when dealing with a minister, a DAFM, a government and an EU regime that is clearly designed to hamper any efforts to improve the crisis that Irish fishermen have been forced into.
It is this fractured nature of the Irish fishing industry that has made it an easy target for the forces who steadily work towards putting Ireland’s fishermen out of business - - and how easy is it to divide and conquer an industry that is historically in a ready-made state of division?
But be assured, unity might be lacking in this industry but there is obvious unity and ‘joined up thinking’ amongst those that are strategically shutting down the Irish fishing industry - - one only has to look at cases such as an Irish quota in a particular area being suddenly slashed (often using environmental or scientific concerns as the reason) to deter Irish boats off that ground and then, coincidentally, a few short months later a license is awarded for an offshore wind farm in that very same area….. as they always say, “follow the money”.
Those who don’t speak out against the many injustices against Irish fishermen are sometimes accused of being part of the system but those that do speak out are criminalised, punished or threatened in some way or another - - vilified as being militant and earmarked as ‘troublemakers’.
But we are reaching the point - indeed we have gone far beyond the point - of needing more ‘troublemakers’ and for this industry to stop always accepting the role of being the victim - -
- - it is time for action, be that instigating serious political change at the next election, refusal to accept EU ‘deals’ being forced upon Ireland, calling out the misleading reports of semi-State bodies that manipulate figures to hide the crisis this industry is really in, or resisting monitoring regimes that are imposed on Irish vessels landing in Ireland but not on non Irish vessels landing here, or even action of a more high profile nature that will grab the media’s attention…
The time has come for this industry to go strong or go home…
*********************************************************************
At Beal na Blath today Taoiseach Simon Harris spoke about "Patriotism", there's nothing very Patriotic about favouring foreign fishing industries over Ireland's. Come on Simon and show your Patriotism and FIGHT for Ireland's fishing Industry.