As the row over inspection of fish landings continues, the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) invited industry representatives to a virtual meeting on the issue.
Irish Fish Processors’ and Exporters’ Association (IFPEA) chief executive Brendan Byrne confirmed that an invitation to an online meeting today (April 13th) had been issued by the SFPA.
“However, there is no agenda – so I cannot say if this is an effort to resolve the issue,” Byrne said.
The row erupted after Danish vessel Ruth headed back to Denmark instead of landing some 1200 tonnes of blue whiting for human consumption into Killybegs, Co Donegal, on March 31st.
The SFPA had directed that the catch be landed over a weighbridge instead of a pierside system.
Since then, several Norwegian vessels have opted to land into Derry over the border, rather than into Killybegs - then trucking catches to south Donegal, while four other vessels abandoned attempts to land into the port, Byrne said.
“Three Irish vessels had to put their catches of blue whiting, destined for human consumption, to fish meal,” Byrne said.
He said it was “bizarre” and “defied all sense of proportion” and said that up to 300 workers were impacted over a three week period.
A survey of members by the IFPEA over five days found that 1773 workdays had been lost for seasonal workers and 239 households affected directly.
He said that the economy of southwest Donegal had taken a “massive hit” due to the changes in weighing procedures which he said had been “adopted overnight by the SFPA” in early March.
A stormy three-hour meeting was held on the issue in Killybegs on April 9th, attended by Minister for Marine Charlie McConalogue.
On the eve of the Killybegs meeting, the SFPA issued a statement in which it said that under the terms of the interim fisheries control plan, as approved by the European Commission, only 5% of bulk landings of pelagic fish – an estimated 30 landings annually – are subject to a full inspection which includes supervising the weighing before transport of the catch.
“The other 95% of bulk landings of pelagic fish – an estimated 570 landings annually – can avail of the exemption of weighing of fishery products after transport in Ireland secured under the interim fisheries control plan,” the SFPA said.
“Several bulk pelagic vessels which docked in Killybegs harbour over the past week [ early April] availed of this exemption,” it said.
The SFPA said that to meet the requirements of the interim plan, operators may select one of two options for conducting this weighing before transport.
“To preserve the quality of the catch, fish are in water when weighed in both options. For absolute clarity, there is no requirement in either instance for the fish to be weighed dry,” it said.
The SFPA said that vessel masters and operators in Killybegs can avail of an industry-owned pierside device to separate water from fish as it exits the vessel before discharging directly into a tanker pre-filled with water which is then weighed on the weighbridge (Water in Tare Weight).
Alternatively, the fish can be weighed on the weighbridge without using the industry-owned pierside device (Water in Nett Weight), but this brought “greater challenge”.
The SFPA said this was one of the two options which was available to the master and operator of Norwegian vessel MFV Ingrid Majala at Killybegs.
“Having rejected this option in Killybegs, the master and operator of MFV Ingrid Majala chose to utilise this option after having sailed to Derry to unload,” it said.
