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‘Ban supertrawlers outright' from Irish waters, says MEP

November 12th, 2017 2:20 PM

By Southern Star Team

Sinn Féin MEP Liadh Ní Riada.

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Sinn Fein MEP for Ireland South, Liadh Ní Riadh, has said that supertrawlers should be banned from Irish waters.

SINN FEIN MEP for Ireland South, Liadh Ní Riadh, has said that supertrawlers should be banned from Irish waters.

‘We had a public hearing on supertrawlers here in the Parliament recently,’ she told visiting Irish journalists, ‘and I wasn’t that impressed at all with the speaker – a Dutch supertrawler owner.’

The MEP, who sits on the Fisheries Committee in the Parliament, said the Irish government should call for an outright ban as they offer nothing to our economy. 

‘They are not processing the fish locally, they are not employing people locally and they scooping up the size of a football pitch of fish every hour,’ she said.

She also claimed that dolphins were falling victim to them and also that independent unscheduled inspections were needed of the ships involved.

‘I would like them banned outright because they are not being held accountable and they are of no benefit to our own fishermen, while the stocks are being decimated,’ she added.

Referring to the looming Brexit, she said: ‘These are critical times for Irish fishermen and there are a lot of coastal communities at stake.’

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