Calls have been made at both a local and an EU level to protect the Irish seafood sector, as a 70% cut to the mackerel quota in the EU is proposed for 2026.

BY MARIAN ROCHE AND KIERAN O’MAHONY

The recommendation has come from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), an independent body, on the basis that the stock is now below ‘all critical reference points’. Overfishing and political deadlock that has continued for years was blamed for the crisis in the Dáil: ‘These drastic reductions are not caused by Irish mismanagement … They are a result of rampant overfishing by third countries, in particular Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands’.

Communities that rely on the industry throughout Ireland, including Castletownbere, are feared to be on their knees already as Deputy Michael Collins said places like Castletownbere and Union Hall ‘are facing existential threats’.

‘Seventeen boats were taken from Castletownbere alone in the most recent decommissioning scheme. They are not just boats. They are our livelihoods, traditions and futures’.

The point was made earlier in October that is not just fishermen who will be affected by a decline in industry, but also the surrounding service industries ‘including engineering, net menders and factories’.

In a meeting of Cork County Council on Tuesday this week, Cllr Danny Collins claimed the proposed cut of 70% could see the Irish seafood sector face collapse within 12 months without immediate government intervention.

He said he attended a meeting last week with fishermen from Castletownbere, Union Hall and Ballycotton with many speaking of their fear of these cuts going ahead: ‘One fisherman said their backs will be to the wall and the frustration and pain was seen at this meeting. For far too long Ireland has left Europe rule our seas’.

Echoing his brother Deputy Michael Collins’ Dáil statements, Cllr Collins said that the decommissioning of 17 boats in Castletownbere ‘has had catastrophic consequence for the local community’.

‘Fishermen only want fairness which they feel they haven’t got that in decades. I’m calling on our Ministers to fight tooth and nail to tell Europe that Ireland has had enough. This is one of our  most valuable fish stock and if this 70% cut goes ahead, it will cost the fishing industry €80m in revenue’.

He added that fishermen don’t want compensation, but a livelihood: ‘It’s compensation for one year and then it’s gone and two years down the line, they have no boat and no income.’

Cllr Caroline Cronin, who is the wife of a fisherman, seconded the motion, and said she’s never seen the industry looking so bleak.

Saying that Irish fishermen were ‘picking up the tab’ since Brexit, Cllr Cronin said the industry was suffering ‘knock after knock; small family fleets need stable quotas to plan and invest. We need to push for this to be reconsidered’.

Her West Cork colleague Cllr Joe Carroll queried why the government ministers are so weak when it comes to Europe: ‘We see boats tied up in Castletownbere and someone has to stand up and say it’s wrong’, while Cllr Isobel Towse claimed that a 70% cut is too steep as a blanket cut, and that any cut must be fully financially compensated.

However, she added that mackerel stocks are dwindling and there was a need to find more strategic ways to replenish stocks.