Irish Fishing Industry – Images by John Henry
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“Europe has taken over our fishing grounds and restricted our movements in the waters. It suits themselves to come to our waters and take our fish and then tell us we’re not to catch them. Throw everything back over the side,” Mark Francis, skipper of the Irish fishing boat, the Catherine Alice, said on his way back to Dublin.
He expresses these feelings after nearly a week at sea, coming up all too short on prawns.
When Ireland joined the European Economic Community, its fishing grounds were carved up and given to countries with larger fleets, like France and Spain. Ireland, with the smallest fleet, gets the smallest portion of the quota, but owns a large majority of European waters.
Francis said the Irish own about 27 percent of European waters, but are allowed to collect only six percent of the fishing quota. In 2009, the EEC is looking to cut Ireland’s quota again by 15 percent.
“There’s been whole villages in Ireland decimated because of this,” Francis said.
On top of this, the Common Fisheries Policy imposes more strict regulations on Irish fishermen than fishermen in other nations.
“A boat couldn’t make a living in Ireland, fishing with the Irish quota, but a boat could move to another country only 50 miles away, fish the same waters, and make a living,” Francis said.