A senior executive from the State fisheries development board has been appointed the new Chief Executive of Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation in Donegal, one of the biggest fishing industry representative groups in the country.

Dominic Rihan, Director of Economic and Strategic Services at BIM, where he has worked for 34 years, will replace Sean O’Donoghue who retires at the end of this month.

Ciarán Doherty, Chairman of the KFO Board, said it was extremely pleased to have somebody of the calibre of Mr Rihan “to lead the organisation through what will be a transformative and transitional period for Irish fisheries”

“We have many challenges to overcome, the most important of which is reclaiming stocks and quota which have been taken from us. We look forward to Dominic picking up where his predecessor left off. We have lobbied tirelessly on burden-sharing post-Brexit and this work continues apace. It is imperative that all EU coastal states equally and fairly share the impact of fish lost due to the British withdrawal,” said Mr Doherty.

Mr. Rihan said he would use his experience for the betterment of the sector.

Dominic Rihan has worked for Bord Iascaigh Mhara for 34 years in the fields of fishing gear technology, stakeholder engagement and provision of policy support and advice to the Government and the seafood industry. He also spent five years working in the European Commission, DG MARE as a seconded national expert in DG MARE dealing with the implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy. His areas of expertise include EU and national fisheries policy, gear technology and industry/stakeholder collaboration. At European and International level, he is the current chair of the European Commission’s Scientific and Technical Committee for Fisheries and has been involved in numerous EU and nationally funded projects.

Killybegs fishers have lashed out at a deal between the Faroe Islands and Moscow that they say creates a “loophole” for Russian trawlers to muscle in on the blue whiting fishery around Irish waters.

According to The Irish Times, the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation (KFO) has called on the Government and European Commission to impose sanctions on the North Atlantic island country over the “immoral” deal that poses “an existential threat to the catch of blue whiting in Irish waters”.

The organisation’s chief executive also accused the Faroes of “aiding and abetting” the Russian invasion of Ukraine by way of the deal, which allows its own vessels to fish for cod in Russian waters.

The Irish Times has much more on the story HERE.

The Chief Executive of the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation (KFO) has called on the Marine Minister and the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority to stand-up for Irish fishermen and the fishing industry against the European Commission.

CEO Sean O'Donoghue says the KFO has lodged a formal complaint with European Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly against the Commission for its failure to grant access to a 2018 control audit report and a subsequent administrative inquiry which allegedly make a range of damaging allegations against the sector.

"The Commission has denied the industry sight of the report’s findings for almost four years now which contravenes its own ‘access regulations’. More importantly, if published and industry was given a chance to defend itself, the wholly farcical, unjustified and unnecessary conflict on the pier since March 7th could have been avoided. This culminated with foreign vessels refusing to have their catch damaged due to dewatering and instead of departing Killybegs without off-loading last week.

“What has happened in Killybegs of late shouldn’t have happened, in light of a High Court judgement handed down on June 4th of last year. Back then, Justice Garrett Simons stated clearly that the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority had acted outside its legal powers by continuing to withhold approval for the pier-side weighing facility at Killybegs Port by reference to the “ownership” concerns raised by the European Commission. The judgement stated: ‘there is no legal basis for these concerns and the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority has not sought to argue otherwise.’ The interim control plan agreed by the Minister and SFPA with the Commission in late December 2021 has still the offending clause in terms of ownership which the High Court found was ultra vires.

“The scales, which we installed in good faith at a direct cost of almost €500,000 and approved by SPFA as well as certified by the NSAI, should have been used to weigh the catch on the Danish and Norwegian vessels, preventing the ridiculous and ultimately costly situation which duly prevailed.

“However the now infamous report of 2018 ties everything together and is at the root of the debacle since we’ve only learned anecdotally that it found Ireland lacked a weighing system fit for purpose and the SFPA was deficient in its control functions. The removal of the weighing permits in the factories last April was, according to the Commission, based on the findings of these reports and should have been challenged by both the Minister and the SFPA. The KFO requested both parties to do so but to no avail.”

“I’m formally calling on our Minister and the SFPA to do right by the fishing industry and stand up for our rights here and abide by the High Court judgement. It’s never too late to admit to a mistake – albeit a grave one. By putting this issue on the table of the European Ombudsman, it’s our hope that the issue will be dealt with in a swift, fair and transparent manner.”