#fishing – Sean Kelly MEP (Ireland South) has raised 'serious concerns' about the fishing practices of a number of vessels understood to be under the control of Dutch companies off the South West coast of Ireland.
"Serious concerns have been brought to my attention regarding the practices of some Dutch-owned fishing vessels of the South West coast. There are allegations of dumping at sea by these vessels which are only declaring what they land at port and not what is actually caught, which is illegal," Sean Kelly MEP said in Brussels today.
Mr Kelly understands that around 25-40 Dutch factory ships operate off Ireland and are owned or controlled by Dutch companies but not necessarily registered under the Dutch flag.
"I will be looking into these concerns immediately with a view to raising the issue at an EU level. If these concerns are proven correct, then quick, firm action must be taken. We have to protect our valuable marine resources and protect the livelihood of Irish fishermen, who are being driven out of business by this illegal practice.
"Furthermore, we may need to look at the use of 'mincers' on board such vessels which enables the 'high grading' or picking out the smaller sized less valuable fish, mincing them and dumping them back into the sea. A practice existed before whereby such factory ships used to just dump the small fish without declaring them and Irish vessels would end up trawling these dead fish. The only difference between this and the new practice is that the dead fish are minced up so Irish vessels no longer pick up the dead fish.
"It would be impossible to constantly monitor fishing ships off Ireland but fishing regulations are useless if not enforced," Mr Kelly concluded.