Generally attributed to Charles Dickens, the phrase 'The law is an ass' is a derisive expression said when the rigid application of the letter of the law is seen to be contrary to common sense - - and, in this particular instance, it can be applied not just to the regulations governing the Irish fishing industry but to those that enforce them i.e. the Sea Fisheries Protection ‘Authority’ (SFPA).
Editorial Comment
Cormac Burke, IFSA
As the SFPA this week publishes yet another self-congratulatory story about how they have successfully prosecuted a Galway fisherman for two charges (one of under recording of a particular species and the other of landing in an undesignated port) the irony of the case seems to have missed many as Irish fishermen have been asking for the past number of years how it can be that the designation of particular ports for landing catches is only being applied to Irish vessels while non Irish vessels continue to regularly land, often with little or no SFPA inspection, into non designated ports such as Cork City or Dun Laoghaire.
Following this week’s court case the SFPA issued a statement stating that: “Accurate catch data in EU waters is the basis for calculating sustainable catch limits to avoid depletion of stocks and ensuring a healthy future fish stock for fishing communities” - adding that the Court ruling also highlights “the importance of the requirement for landings to take place in designated ports in order to ensure effective monitoring of catches which is necessary for measures to support the sustainability of stocks”.
The words “ensuring effective monitoring” jump off the pages - - how can any so-called ‘regulatory body’ claim to be undertaking effective monitoring when they turn a blind eye to so many non Irish vessel landings in non designated Irish ports?
- - all of which once again leaves Irish fishermen asking why the exact same reasoning [accurate catch data in EU waters] is not applied to non Irish EU vessels fishing in Irish waters and landing into non designated Irish ports?
Surely it is a joke that the SFPA can make such a publicity spin over the prosecution of one Irish fisherman for landing of a few hundred kilos of fish by an Irish vessel in an undesignated port and then blatantly avoid even inspecting non Irish vessels landing thousands of tonnes into other ‘non designated’ Irish ports on a weekly if not daily basis?
When recently challenged on their report that attempted to mislead the public by claiming that 95% of all vessel landing into Ireland were of Irish boats (by including vast numbers of small Irish inshore craft landings to mask the actual volume of non Irish demersal vessel landings) the SFPA responded by saying that they only publish the facts and that they simply “collect the data and issue it” - - - and yet, despite repeated calls from the industry in recent years, the same organisation refuses to issue any ‘factual’ statement of explanation as to why there is little or no law applied to non Irish demersal vessels choosing to land in whatever Irish port they please, whether it is a designated port or not.
When questioned on such matters by the IFSA some time ago at a meeting in Brussels, the head of DG Mare at the European Commission said this situation did seem “unusual’ but that they cannot get involved with internal issues in the business of individual EU Member States, and EFCA, the SFPA’s bosses in Europe, have not once in their history ever pulled the Irish monitors up on any apparent misbehaviour, whilst here at home the marine minister continues to wash his hands of any responsibility by claiming that there is no connection between his officials and the SFPA, despite it transpiring that last year regular high level meetings had been taking place between DAFM and SFPA.
As one fishermen recently said, the application of this law by the SFPA is akin to a traffic Garda applying a maximum 100km per hour speed limit to one set of drivers but then a 120kph limit to a select few drivers… - - prosecuting one group of people at every opportunity for breaking the law but then turning a blind eye to another group for breaking the exact same law.
Since the SFPA are so fond of issuing press releases patting themselves on the back, it would be interesting to know how many times (if ever) that they have charged and prosecuted a non Irish fishing vessel for landing into a non designated Irish port…
One can only wonder that in this particular case if the same Galway fisherman was flying a Belgium flag on his vessel would this charge of landing fish in a non designated Irish port have even reached an Irish courtroom?
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