The Irish fishing industry is being threatened with another major impact on its waters This is from Norway a non-EU Membet State which wants to get its fleet into Irish waters to fish for the valuable blue whiting.
Norway has made a direct request to the EU for access, ignoring the Irish Government.
“The fact that Norway is making their request to the EU and NOT directly to Ireland, speaks volumes," said Aodh O'Donnell CEO of the Irish Fish Producers' Organisation. "They seem optimistic that the EU would unilaterally surrender access to Irish fishing grounds to a non-EU member – based on the track record of EU treatment of the Irish fishing.
“The EU already threw Ireland under the bus when it came to quota cuts after Brexit,
We took the hardest hits. A staggering 40% of the total value of quotas transferred to the UK under Brexit came from Ireland. This was way more than was taken from any other EU nation, including those with much shorter coastlines and far higher quotas than Ireland at the outset. Why is the EU now considering that we take the hit again for a non-EU member? It’s time to ask serious questions about the EU’s attitude to Ireland and our fishing industry.
"Blue whiting is a valuable species, concentrated in Irish waters. The Irish industry has pioneered its development as a quality food product for export markets. Basically, Norway is looking to more than double the amount of Blue Whiting they can fish and access further south in our waters. They are not offering any quid pro quo to Ireland, in terms of rights to fish in their waters."
Norway already has a quota agreement for 2023 with Russia, which involves reciprocal arrangements regarding fishing and landing Russian vessels in Norwegian ports. This is despite the sanctions’ regime against Russia, because of the war against Ukraine.
"They are not even EU members and so, they must be refused unfettered access to fishing in the Irish Box. Although they do not belong to the EU, they currently already have rights to fish in the West of Ireland. Now, we are asked to give them access further south in Irish waters to catch blue whiting,” says O'Donnell.
Brendan Byrne of the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association (IFPEA) said:.‘’In addition to access, Norway is pushing the EU to increase a transfer of quota by a staggering 158% to 80,000 tonnes. Most of this will be caught in our waters."
Representative organisations have called on the Irish Government to reject what they describe as "an outrageous" move by the Norwegians.
Patrick Murphy of the Irish South and West Producers Organisation (IS&WFPO) said": "There is no justice in allocating them more rights to fish in the Irish Box.”
“Any access to the Irish box to catch fish in our waters must be managed with a compensatory transfer of Norwegian quota to the Irish Fleet,” says O Donnell. “We admire the Norwegians for how they represent their vessels, but this ask is simply unreasonable. We call on the Minister to secure a ‘whole of government backing’ and meet with Irish fishing representatives urgently, to ensure that an equitable arrangement is made.”