Ban oversize trawlers inside coastal zone - Mayo local election candidate
SINN Féin local election candidate in the Belmullet LEA, Rosaleen Lally, is calling for an urgent ban on trawlers over 18 metres from trawling inside the six nautical mile zone from the coast.
She explained: “The Erris and Achill areas depend hugely on the income from the inshore fishing fleets, but inequitable fishing quotas and rising costs of fuel is driving many out of the sector.
“We in Sinn Féin recognise that the inshore fleet makes up the majority of those directly employed in the fishing sector, and without doubt they sustain coastal communities in a very significant way.
“Along with Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, TD, the Sinn Féin spokesperson on fisheries and the marine, and Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh, I am committed to working to ensure the continuation of the proud history and tradition of Irish fishing. If Sinn Féin is in government, we will ensure the inshore fishing fleet have special protections applied.”
MEP Chris MacManus, she said, is working hard in Europe to bring forward more targeted EU fisheries funding towards small-scale fishermen, delivering direct knock-on economic opportunities that allow small rural communities to grow. These are based on localised fishing industries, including the establishment of producer organisations for the inshore fleet.
Continued Ms. Lally: “The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has opened a public consultation on trawling activities inside the six nautical miles and the baselines. Sinn Féin support the inshore fishermen and are working with the Erris Inshore Fishermen's Association (EIFA) to represent the interests of Erris and the wider inshore fishing sector.
“This consultation is an opportunity to have your voice heard and to ensure that our inshore waters will be managed in a way which would conserve the stocks for whales, dolphins, fish and birds, and also give a welcome boost to the inshore fishing sector.
“I am calling on everyone with an interest in conserving our habitat and supporting our local fishing families to make a submission before the closing date (April 12 at 1 p.m.).”
Further information, briefing documents and how to make your submission are available online at https://www.gov.ie/en/consultation/0e523-public-consultation-on-trawling-activity-inside-the-six-nautical-mile-zone-and-the-baselines/.
The public consultation offers four options for fisheries management inside the 6 nautical mile limit: business as usual; a ban on all pair trawling; a ban on all trawling by vessels over 15m in length; and a ban on trawling by vessels over 18 m.
“Sinn Féin supports the option preventing vessels over 18m from trawling inside the limit in order to maximise environmental benefit while balancing fairness to the fishing fleet.
“The industry (inshore and offshore) needs to work together on how this is operated and for a sustainable fishery for all inside and outside of the 6nm limit, including a fair allocation of mackerel and herring quota to the inshore sector.”