A flotilla of 73 Irish fishing vessels participated in a mass demonstration yesterday which may be the first in a series of protests, according to industry leaders.

The “Show and Tell” event organised by the Irish South and West Fish Producers’ Organisation (IS&WFPO) delivered a letter to the constituency office of Taoiseach Micheal Martin in Cork, seeking direct talks with him.

Vessels from Clogherhead, Co Louth right round to Rossaveal, Co Galway, and including all southern ports, participated – leaving berths up to 24 hours beforehand in some cases to make it to Cork harbour.

“This is the first stage in a campaign, where we want to show the Irish people what is actually happening to our industry,” IS&WFPO chief executive Patrick Murphy said.

80 per cent of the beamer fleet from south coast Irish ports also took part, Murphy noted.

80 per cent of the beamer fleet from south coast Irish ports took part in the Cork Harbour campaign Photo: Bob Bateman

The loss of 15 per cent overall of Irish fish quota in the Brexit deal and the reintroduction of an administrative penalty points system were key issues that the event aimed to highlight.

The protest also aimed to emphasise the impact of the recent withdrawal of the EU control plan - which means all fish catches have to be weighed on piers.

The Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association has called on Irish Marine minister Charlie McConalogue to demand evidence from the EU for what it has described as a “blunt, crude” decision by the EU Commission.

“What makes this unbearable is that all this is happening during a global pandemic, where the Irish fishing fleet was designated an essential service for the continuity of food supply,” Murphy said.

The fleet assembled at Roche’s Point off Cork harbour early on Wednesday and steamed up to Cork Port.

“Fishing crews, mechanics, engineers, oil companies, net manufacturers, shops, supermarkets all supported us –it was a real community event,” Murphy said.

Murphy paid tribute to the Garda, Naval Service and Port of Cork for accommodating the peaceful protest, and to members of the public for supporting it.

“Fishermen are putting themselves before the public, to show them the boats they have, the huge investment, creating jobs, the families with long traditions who face being forced out of fishing,” he said.

“Many businesses throughout the country, through no fault of their own, will not survive the current climate financially,” the IS&WFPO has warned.

“ The countless job losses, financial worries these people have of maintaining mortgage payments and putting food on their tables is unimaginable,” it says.

A photo gallery of the trawler protest at Roches Point is here

Fishing vessels are steaming up the river Lee to Cork city this morning in protest over serious issues affecting the Irish industry.

A beautiful morning in Cork Harbour has allowed the fleet to assemble at Roches Point in perfectly flat sea conditions.

See photo gallery below

The “Show and Tell” campaign, spearheaded by the Irish South and West Fish Producers’ Organisation (IS&WFPO), aims to deliver a letter to Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s constituency office in Turner’s Cross, Cork.

The IS&WFPO says it has the co-operation with the Port of Cork Company and the Garda for the event and is inviting the public to “come and view these vessels, meet the men and women who work these vessels, hear their stories and talk with our representatives”.

The protest fleet assembled off Roches Point, Cork Harbour at 7 am on Wednesday, and a public address will be held at Horgan’s Quay, Cork at 12 noon, before the walk to Turner’s Cross.

Fishermen from the South West Coast will head for Cork Port on Wednesday to "show and tell the crazy scenario" facing their industry.

"We are not being treated fairly by either the EU or the government who are not protecting the natural resource of Ireland to which Irish people should have the major rights," according to their Chief Executive Patrick Murphy.

"Fishermen don't want to be in this situation. It is not what they want to be doing, but they are left with no choice; things are so bad. The fishing industry is a vital part of our coastal economy and we need community support for it," says the CEO.

The planned flotilla will assemble at 7 a.m. on Wednesday at Roche's Point and sail up the River Lee to the city quays.

The 'show and tell event' is being coordinated with the Port of Cork and An Garda Síochána to minimise any disruption to harbour traffic and commercial business.

Listen to Tom MacSweeney's podcast with Fishing Chief Patrick Murphy below and read Afloat's report by Lorna Siggins on the protest here

Fishing vessels are due to steam up the river Lee to Cork city on Wednesday in protest over serious issues affecting the Irish industry.

The “Show and Tell” campaign, spearheaded by the Irish South and West Fish Producers’ Organisation (IS&WFPO), aims to deliver a letter to Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s constituency office in Turner’s Cross, Cork.

The IS&WFPO says it has the co-operation with the Port of Cork Company and the Garda for the event, and is inviting the public to “come and view these vessels, meet the men and women who work these vessels, hear their stories and talk with our representatives”.

The protest fleet will assemble off Roches Point, Cork Harbour at 7 am on Wednesday, and a public address will be held at Horgan’s Quay, Cork at 12 noon, before the walk to Turner’s Cross.

The impact of the loss of 15 per cent overall of quota in the Brexit deal, the reintroduction of an administrative penalty points system, and the recent withdrawal of the EU control plan which means all fish catches have to be weighed on piers are issues which the protest aims to highlight.

The IS&WFPO says that “what makes this unbearable is that this is happening during a global pandemic, where the Irish fishing fleet was designated an essential service for the continuity of food supply”.

“Fishermen were asked to put aside their fears of being hundreds of miles away from medical help if it were needed for the benefit of our people,” it says.

Patrick Murphy, Chief Executive of the Irish South and West Fish Producers’ Organisation

“ One would think that our government should thank us like all others on the front line and recognise our vulnerability as an industry and the importance of maintaining the national fleet,”it says.

“Many businesses throughout the country, through no fault of their own, will not survive the current climate financially,” the IS&WFPO says.

“ The countless job losses, financial worries these people have of maintaining mortgage payments and putting food on their tables is unimaginable,” it says.

“ The vast majority of our members share these worries, but not because they cannot trade or continue the profession that was passed down to them from their fathers and mothers- but because their rights have been stripped away and they now find themselves the pawn on the chessboard of Europe to be sacrificed so larger countries may triumph,” it states.

Minister for Marine Charlie McConalogue

The organisation welcomes the recent setting up of a ministerial taskforce by Minister for Marine Charlie McConalogue as “some recognition by Government that our industry is on the verge of collapse”.

Listen to Tom MacSweeney's podcast with IS&WFPO Chief Patrick Murphy here

The Government has been urged not to delay in establishing a formal liaison between marine users including fishermen and the offshore renewable energy industry.

As The Times Ireland edition reports today, the Department of Housing – currently lead agency for marine planning - says it is “acutely aware” of communication issues between the fishing industry and offshore renewable energy.

Draft terms of reference for forming a seafood/offshore renewable energy “working group” are still being worked on, it says.

The National Inshore Fishermen's Association (NIFA) says that liaison and State guidelines should not be “long-fingered” if confrontations are to be avoided.

NIFA has said difficulties have already arisen in the Irish Sea, where one wind energy company “reneged” on its commitment to fishermen.

As a result, several NIFA members had to engage expensive legal advice, NIFA secretary Alex Crowley said.

NIFA is calling for establishment by the State of guidelines for wind energy companies dealing with other stakeholders including the fishing sector.

Sligo fishermen David Downes, who fishes out of Raghley on the east side of Sligo Bay, says that there has been no direct contact by an energy company in relation to its recent application to conduct an offshore wind energy feasibility study off the Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal coast.

Aniar Offshore Array confirmed that it has submitted an investigatory foreshore licence which, if granted, would allow it five years to conduct investigations and assessments of feasible sites for both fixed and offshore wind.

“If the licensing authority decides to grant this application, Aniar Offshore Array will publish all application documents to the website and update all stakeholders of the development,” a company spokeswoman said.

The company confirmed the total area to be surveyed is 1,162.26 km2 off Sligo, Leitrim and South Donegal.

It said it was considering a two-phase project - a first phase involving a static or fixed turbine development of approximately 500 MW situated within 10 to 22 km off the coast, covering an area of approximately 125km2.

The second phase would involve another 500 MW approximately of floating turbines, within 14 to 33 km off the coast and comprising an area of approximately 180km2, the company said.

Downes said this was a substantial sea area and, “even at this stage” consultation with all stakeholders was important, and not just with representative organisations.

The Government is committed to increasing the current target of offshore wind energy from 3.5 gigawatts (GW) to five GW off the Irish east and south coasts by 2030.

It has prioritised the Maritime Area Planning (MAP) Bill – formerly titled the Marine Planning and Development Management Bill – which will issue marine area consents for offshore wind projects.

Minister for Environment and Climate Eamon Ryan has said the legislation would provide for a “ steady predictable phased routine process” of licensing and approving offshore wind.

Read The Times Ireland here

An environmental group has called on Taoiseach Micheál Martin to separate the State’s Sea Fisheries Protection Agency from control by the Department of Agriculture and the Marine.

As The Times Ireland edition reports today, the Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) believe EU penalties imposed on the Irish fishing sector are a consequence of the SFPA's lack of independence.

The entire Irish fishing sector is now having to bear the burden of penalties arising from an EU audit of specific breaches which were not sufficiently addressed by Irish authorities, FIE says.

The 2018 EU audit had identified “severe and significant weaknesses in the Irish control system” for the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy, detailing irregularities, including the manipulation of weighing systems in some instances.

Ireland is already negotiating terms of a payback quotas, as the EU auditors found that Ireland had overfished its quota of mackerel by 28,600 tonnes; horse mackerel quota by 8,100 tonnes and blue whiting by 5,600 tonnes between 2012 and 2016.

The EU’s recent decision to withdraw Ireland’s control plan for weighing catches has caused consternation within the industry, as all seafood catches by both large and small vessels now have to be weighed at the point of landing.

Ireland had previously secured a derogation to allow weighing in factories, due to the loss of quality involved in weighing at the pier.

The FIE has published the full EU audit report on its website, and has also written to the National Bureau of Criminal Investigations and to the Criminal Assets Bureau, asking both agencies if they are aware of the audit team’s recommendations in relation to tackling fraud.

SFPA chair Dr Susan Steele,who is due to take up a post as head of the EU’s fisheries control agency in Vigo, Spain in September, said the EU decision on weighing catches at the point of landing is a “clear marker of tougher fisheries controls across the EU”.

However, the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation (KFO) has said it is “simply flabbergasted” that what it described as “this bewildering move which has such a direct and draconian impact on all aspects of Irish fisheries” could “be considered without any advance notice”.

In its letter to the Taoiseach, the FIE says that that the root cause of the problem is an undermining of the independence of the SFPA by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Noting the department's “ development priorities”, FIE Director Tony Lowes said the “necessary and appropriate checks and balances incumbent on the department in the exercise of its functions are impossible”.

“The compounding procedures brought against Ireland by the EU are because the SFPA, like the Marine Institute, is administered by the part of the Department of Agriculture also responsible for the promotion of the seafood industry,” he said.

He has urged the Taoiseach to transfer administration and financing of the SFPA to “one of the many non-marine divisions”.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine said it was "not accurate" to suggest it undermined the SFPA's independence.

It said the SFPA's independence is laid down in legislation that is "fully respected", and it said it had also increased the SFPA's budget with further recruitment planned for this year.

Read The Times here

Dun Laoghaire Harbour’s strategic location as an EU port in the middle of the Irish Sea may have been overlooked by commercial fishing fleets for years but since Brexit, it appears Belgian fishermen have been quick to see the advantage of the Dublin Bay port.

Not only did two Belgian trawlers take shelter from today’s forecasted south-easterly gale but both 38-metre boats also offloaded catch at the harbour’s number two-berth on the Carlisle Pier.

It brings to four the number of big Belgian vessels using the port this month, more than doubling the sporadic arrival of such visits last year.

Is it a possible positive Brexit spin-off for the Victorian harbour that is itself the subject of its regeneration plans?

The Jasmine alongside at Dun Laoghaire

The trawlers, that catch Whitefish, on Cardigan Bay off the Welsh coast used to land in Liverpool but current Brexit arrangements are causing difficulties leading to the requirement for deepwater alternatives.

The six-metre draft of the trawlers is just too deep for other east coast ports (other than Dublin) so Dun Laoghaire Harbour is proving a convenient and well-serviced location.

The Carlisle Pier provides easy access for trucks to take the catch to market. And it's not the only port the Belgians are accessing, they are also landing fish in Cork, according to local sources.

The main fishing grounds of the Belgians are the southern and central North Sea, accounting for 44 per cent of total catches. Other important fishing grounds are the English Channel (26 per cent), the Celtic Sea (18 per cent) and the Irish Sea (8 per cent).

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD, announced this morning details of a €38.3m Capital Investment Package for the ongoing development of Ireland’s publicly owned harbour network including 79 Local Authority Harbours across 12 coastal Local Authorities.

See funding allocations below

In announcing the 2021 programme, the Minister said, “I am delighted to announce this €38.3 million capital investment package in our six Fishery Harbour Centres and 79 Local Authority owned piers and harbours around our coast which underlines the importance this Government places on the contribution of the wider Seafood sector to Ireland’s economy and to rural coastal communities in particular.”

Essential repairs to a fisherman's pontoon have been granted €72,750 and  slipway improvement works were awarded €60,000 at Kinsale Harbour in West Cork

The Local Authority programme which forms part of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marines’ 2021 Fishery Harbour and Coastal Infrastructure Development Programme, whereby the Department co-funds up to 75% of the total cost of approved projects with the Local Authority providing the balance (see table 1 below).

In regard to the Local Authority scheme, the Minister stated, “It was important to me to place added importance on the Local Authority scheme this year and I am pleased to be to in a position to announce an enhanced €4.2 million programme in 2021 to assist Coastal Local Authorities in the repair and development of fishery and aquaculture linked marine infrastructures under their ownership. This year I have redirected savings due to Covid limitations on other projects to increase the monies available to the Local Authorities resulting in a 35% increase in 2020 allocations. Together with funding from Local Authorities, the total amount to be invested in local piers and harbours in 2021 under this scheme comes to €5.6 million.”

 €30,000 has been granted for the installation of a pontoon at the West Pier in Dun Laoghaire Harbour

Minister McConologue went on to say, “The €4.2 million package I am making available this year provides funding for a diverse suite of 79 projects geographically spread across 12 Local Authorities which will improve the amenities provided to the wider Marine community in these coastal areas. It will provide a much needed economic boost to rural coastal communities particularly in these trying times and also make them more attractive to tourists in the longer term. During the pandemic, we have become more aware than ever of the importance of our outdoor spaces and local amenities. The continued upgrading and refurbishment of our local piers and harbours will support local fishers, tourism and will have numerous knock-on benefits for local economies. This again demonstrates our Government’s commitment to rural Ireland.”

New development works are budgeted for at the Fishery Harbour at Howth in County Dublin

Overall, the annual Fishery Harbour and Coastal Infrastructure Development Programme provides funding for safety, maintenance and new development works at the six Fishery Harbour Centres at Howth, Dunmore East, Castletownbere, Dingle, Ros An Mhíl and Killybegs (see Table 2 below).

The primary function of the Fishery Harbour Centres is to underpin the ongoing development of the fisheries and seafood processing sectors, while also facilitating other diverse marine-related activities.

The Minister said, “Critically, this year’s funding for the Fishery Harbour Centres provides for the completion of three strategically important projects in Castletownbere, Killybegs and Howth, delivering an additional 460 metres of berthing space in the respective harbours. These projects have experienced delays as a result of the necessary Covid restrictions. This is in accordance with Action 65 of my Department’s 2021 Action Plan. Additionally, a number of new projects are commencing across the six Fishery Harbour Centres continuing the improvements being made in facilities available to fishermen and other harbour users."

The Minister concluded by saying “All told, €140 million has been invested in the Fishery Harbour Centres between 2010 and 2020, with a further €31 million invested in Local Authority owned marine infrastructure over the same period. This years €38.3 million investment in 2021 will create short term employment in some of the most rural coastal communities during the works, as well as reinforcing the strategies for diversification and to develop an environment for long term, sustainable economic opportunities around our coast.”

Table 1: The 79 approved capital projects across 12 Coastal Local Authorities approved for funding in 2021

Table 2: The overall Fishery Harbour & Coastal Infrastructure Development Programme 2021

The Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association has called on the Minister for the Marine to "do his duty and stand up for the industry he is mandated to represent."

The Chief Executive of the Association, Brendan Byrne, has described as "draconian and brutal" the European Commission's decision to withdraw from the Irish industry the derogation it had held to weigh fish at factories rather than landing ports. The Commission has cited suspicion of fraud in the process, which is rejected by the IFPEA, to justify its decision. There are 160 processing companies in Ireland.

Marine Minister Charlie McConalogue

Mr Byrne has called on the Commission to produce evidence to prove the charges against the organisation. "We don't have any knowledge of what we are accused of." The major Fish Producer Organisations have also called for the production of evidence.

Speaking on Tom MacSweeney's Maritime Ireland Radio Show, (Iisten to the interview below) Mr Byrne said the IFPEA is confident of its position and will defend it strongly. The Commission and the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, and the Minister should produce the evidence; he says: "Show us what we are being accused of."

An Irish marine biologist has been appointed head of the EU’s monitoring body for the Common Fisheries Policy.

Dr Susan Steele, who grew up on West Cork’s Beara peninsula, has been appointed executive director of the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA).

She is currently chair and chief executive of the State’s Sea Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA).

The EFCA’s primary role is to organise coordination and cooperation between national control and inspection activities, ensuring the rules of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy are “respected and applied effectively”.

Based in Vigo, Spain, it cooperates with the European Border and Coast Guard Agency and the European Maritime Safety Agency to support national authorities.

The EFCA confirmed Dr Steele’s appointment on Thursday (Apr 22), stating that she has a “solid background in fisheries management and control!.

Dr Steele had been head of the SPFA since 2013, and was previously head of the innovation at the national Seafood Development Centre from 2009.

She also worked with Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) as head of aquaculture and business from 2006 to 2009.

She holds a PhD from the National University of Ireland, an MBA, a Masters in Education (M.Ed) and a bachelor degree in marine biology.

She is expected to take up her new European post on September 1st, 2021.

Ireland’s SFPA was recently directed by the EU to withdraw its control plan for weighing fish landed by Irish vessels, following an EU audit in 2018 conducted in Killybegs, Co Donegal.

Last year, the EFCA recorded 38,452 inspections at sea and ashore, leading to 1787 suspected infringements in EU member states.