CAMPAIGNERS are calling for a ban on large fishing vessels being allowed to fish for sprat and other species close to the shore, claiming they are leaving parts of the West Cork coast ‘void of life’.
BY DAVID FORSYTHE
The claim came following the sighting of two Castletownbere-based boats trawling in Bantry Bay in recent weeks.
According to Pádraig Whooley, sightings officer with the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG), West Cork has gone from one of the richest and most diverse marine ecosystems in Ireland to an area where the sea is ‘void of life’ in less than 15 years.
‘These are local boats doing this and it’s only a small number,’ he said. ‘Over the last 15 years we have seen a gradual decline in marine life in West Cork and the inshore coastal waters are pretty much empty.’
Mr Whooley said that sprat and sand eels were essential to maintain marine ecosystems but warned that current fishing practices could see them disappear entirely from West Cork waters.
‘This has a huge ecological and economic impact and there is actually very little to be made out of it for those boats financially,’ he added. ‘It’s affecting tourism, charter boats, anglers, small fishing boats. We are not seeing fin whales or humpback whales in anything like the numbers we used to. ‘The whales are voting with their fins and heading up to Donegal Bay and further north, we know this because we have evidence of animals that used to come to West Cork now turning up in Donegal and Sligo.’
Mr Whooley said that there were two big issues affecting marine life off the West Cork coast: climate change which was forcing a northward movement of species across the world but also the ‘appalling’ overfishing of vital forage species like sprat and sand eels.
Vessels of more than 18 metres in length were banned from trawling or using seine nets within six nautical miles of the coast by legislation enacted in 2019. In March 2023, however, the Court of Appeal ruled that the legislation had no legal effect.
Fianna Fáil TD Christopher O’Sullivan said the issue needed to be brought before the Dáil before the upcoming election. ‘I still feel that the pair trawling ban for boats over 18m should be introduced as a matter of urgency. We are seeing right across the south west coast that sprat and sand eel numbers are at perilously low levels.
Irish South and West Fish Producer’s Organisation chief executive Patrick Murphy, left, defended the right of larger vessels to fish within the six-mile limits but TD Christopher O'Sullivan, right, said that a pair trawling ban for boats over 18m should be introduced as a matter of urgency.
‘We are seeing less and less fin and humpback whales for example coming to our coast because of a lack of foraging food.
This is an important food source for these species and this really need to be clamped down on.
It’s not just those species that will suffer, many other of the smaller boats in the fishing sector are impacted by the overfishing of sprat and sand eel as well. I know that there was a public consultation on sprat fishing and I think that the recommendation to implement the ban should be pushed through before the Dáil dissolves.’
A public consultation was held earlier this year on a potential new ban which proposed four options: no change to the status quo; all sea-fishing boats excluded from pair trawling inside the six nautical mile zone and baselines; all sea-fishing boats over 18m in length overall excluded from trawling inside the six nautical mile zone and baselines and all sea-fishing boats over 15m in length overall excluded from trawling inside the six nautical mile zone and baselines.
Social Democrats leader Holy Cairns criticised government inaction.
‘The public consultation closed in April, but we have seen no progress since then. I have been raising this issue consistently with the minister since I was first elected. This unsustainable practice is doing untold damage to the ecosystems in Bantry Bay. And due to the decline of life in the bay is having a negative impact on our inshore fishers and the marine tourism sector.’
But Irish South and West Fish Producer’s Organisation chief executive Patrick Murphy defended the right of larger vessels to fish within the six-mile limits.
‘Just because people see boats in the bay does not mean these boats are fishing the whole time, they are fishing specific species under strict conditions. These boats are strictly regulated and I can guarantee you that if they are in any way in breach of the law, they would be prosecuted.
‘Politicians making claims that this and that can be done in the run-up to an election is sad to see. They know that there are complications in international law here that mean that what they are claiming can’t happen. They should get off their soapboxes and do some work.’
