A group of Kerry secondary school students are participating in a presentation by inshore fishermen on the crisis in the sector, which will be delivered to Government TDs and senators on Wednesday (Feb 28).
The National Inshore Fishermen’s Association (NIFA) has been invited to outline the situation of its members to TDs and senators via the audio-visual room.
Shellfish markets have collapsed, margins have tightened, there are new restrictions on catching pollack, and many boats have had no earnings for the past two months.
Transition year students from Pobalscoil Inbhear Scéine in Kenmare have been working on a campaign for the ECO Unesco Young Environmentalist Awards (YEA), and have selected the issue of the impact of inshore trawling by boats over 18 metres in length.
They believe the fishing for sprat by larger vessels to provide fishmeal for farmed salmon is having a negative impact on stocks targeted by smaller inshore vessels.
The all-Ireland environmental awards programme recognises and rewards young people who raise environmental awareness and improve the environment.
Environmental scientist Rachel Hawker, who has been working with the TY students, said they held a workshop in Kenmare earlier in the month which some members of NIFA attended.
Following this, NIFA invited the students to present on the situation in Kenmare at the meeting in the Dail on Wednesday.
Hawker explains that the students found that the trawling by large boats in the Kenmare Bay area is “directly relevant their chosen themes of the Eco UNESCO Young Environmentalist Award, including biodiversity and marine life and the impact of removing sprat”.
The students also believe it has a negative impact on food supplies, citing the statistic that it takes five kilo of sprat to produce one kilo of farmed salmon.
Earlier this month, Minister for Marine Charlie McConalogue initiated a public consultation on fishing with trawls inside the six nautical mile zone and the baselines.
As Afloat has reported, NIFA has already highlighted its situation before an Oireachtas committee.
The Government’s failure to implement a national inshore fishing strategy drawn up by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) has been disastrous for the sector, the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and Marine was told in January.