Ireland to lose €25 million to gain €2 million - another EU shady ‘deal’

EU trades away yet another €25 million to Norway in Irish waters to give Ireland €2 million in return

Just when Irish fishermen thought that they couldn’t be betrayed any more, yet another shock and underhand decision is taken by the EU Commission.

Surely the time is long overdue when the leaders of the Irish State must insist on a face to face meeting with DG Mare and the EU Fisheries Commission and demand to know exactly what they have against Ireland and the Irish fishing industry.

In what has been described as yet another ‘horrific blow’ to Ireland the EU Commission last night drew up a deal to allow Norway to catch an ADDITIONAL 50,000 tonnes of blue whiting worth approximately €25 million in Irish waters and in return the EU fleet will be allowed access to Norwegian waters for 15,000 tonnes of Atlanto Scandic herring (ASH), with the Irish element of this being 1,533 tonnes (worth around €2 million) between five Irish RSW and two Irish polyvalent vessels.

Aside from sheer disgust amongst Irish fishermen who feel betrayed once again, this deal’ raises many points:

* The approximate value of €2 million for the 1,533 tonnes of ASH doesn’t take into consideration the huge expense of steaming all the way up to Norwegian waters (without the guarantee of the fish even being there, as has previously happened) and this cost must then come off the price for the catch…. Wouldn’t it have been a more sensible offer that in this deal, Norway gives Ireland two million’s worth of their blue whiting quota and allow Ireland catch it on their own doorstep?

As with the overfishing of mackerel, Norway sets their own quota for blue whiting and, based on their argument that these fish are abundant in their own waters, they give themselves a 360,000-tonne BW annual quota …. But why then do they constantly push for deals to allow them catch more of their quota in Irish waters?

* The EU Commission forced a 41% BW quota reduction on Ireland for this year because the stock needed better sustainable management but then, when it suited them, the Commission magically pulled out of a hat, an extra 50,000 tonnes in Irish waters for Norway….. but when challenged that surely this is unsustainable and goes against the scientific advice that they were preaching, they respond by saying this is not ‘new’ quota but it is just a transfer of 50,000 tonnes from Norway’s 360,000-tonne annual quota to allow them catch it in Irish rather than Norwegian waters but….. woah… wait a minute EU Commission… did you not criticise Norway, as recently as last year, for giving themselves such a massive quota above scientific advice but now you’re going to allow them catch some of that same quota, that you said was against scientific advice, in Irish waters?

And, no wonder the Taoiseach remained silent last night as he was faced with angry Opposition politicians demanding to know why Ireland simply abstained in this latest EU deal instead of vehemently objecting to it.

While Minister Timmy Dooley can expect to come under much pressure to explain himself after he abstained from last night’s vote, the IFSA has learned that Irish officials were told that if they objected then it would make no difference to the final outcome as they would be outvoted anyway, and also if they did not object to the deal then Norway promised they would ‘ring fence’ the Irish 1,533 tonnes of ASH quota so it could not be taken by the Dutch or Danes (which did happen on a previous occasion three years ago)….

Since BREXIT the Irish fishing industry has been saying that no deal would have been better than the deal we got and Minister Dooley should have recognised that this was the case once again and even if it felt futile, he should have taken a firm stand and at least had it recorded in no uncertain terms that Ireland objected to the resources within Irish waters being used once again by the EU Commission as a bargaining chip to gain benefits for other EU nations.

Fishing, farming, Irish neutrality, carbon taxes, etc etc.. surely the citizens of this country are waiting to see if, just once, if Michael Martin, and what’s quickly becoming the one joint Fianna Gael Fáil party, will show the backbone to stand up to the EU.

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Photo: Soon Ireland will be like the gulls, fighting over the scraps left to us by Norwegian vessels