A EUROPEAN election candidate from West Cork has accused Irish MEPs of adopting an ‘abstentionist policy’ representing the rights of the Irish fishing industry in the European Parliament.
Aontú’s Ireland South election candidate, Patrick Murphy, who is chief executive of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation alleges that MEPs have not attended meetings with the advisory councils, which play a key role in charting the course of legislation pertaining to the industry.
‘It’s a downright disgrace. I have been sitting on advisory councils for the past eight years and not once has an Irish MEP attended one of these meetings. The advisory councils are tasked with drafting advice and examining legislation for the fishing industry and it is quite incredible that in all those years, not one has thought it important enough to turn up and examine what he or she can do to help a valuable industry that is being left to flounder.’
Mr Murphy said the industry is ‘literally going under’.
‘Look at the facts - fish prices are going up, on an island country that should be heavily promoting this rich and natural resource and we are hugely anxious about jobs.
We have more than 8,000 people directly employed in the industry with some 7,000 more indirectly employed. The value to the Irish economy is circa €1.3bn and the sector is frankly being treated with contempt.’
Mr Murphy has called for a full review into the Common Fisheries Policy.
‘As it stands, a whopping 85% of our fish stock in our waters is going to foreign vessels. These foreign fishing fleets are travelling some 400 to 500 miles to even get to our waters. We have Russian, Japanese, and Chinese fishing vessels coming to the to the outskirts of our 200 Mile limit to catch Bluefin Tuna and Blue whiting, as well as Spanish, Belgium, Dutch, Lithuanian, Latvian, Polish, French and UK boats fishing up to six miles from our shore.’
‘We have approximately 40 Belgian beamers steaming across the seas into Irish waters when we only have 120 boats left in our offshore fleet down from 400 in less than 20 years.
We have only 5% of hake in our own waters, 1% herring in the Irish sea. If that doesn’t tell the story of the sorry state of the Irish Fishing industry, I don’t know what
will.’
