Fish stocks decimated from high seas plunder
Monday March 06 2006
and Tom Lyons
IRISH fishermen are catching up to three times the amount permitted by the EU in a huge criminal racket which is devastating fish stocks.
And our fish exports are also significantly higher than the quotas given to this country, an Irish Independent investigation can reveal.
A Government probe into illegal over-fishing has unearthed massive criminality in the industry, while huge discrepancies have been found in the amount of fish being landed and the figures recorded in log books for the EU.
Exceeded
"Our quotas for fish are exceeded by two to three times," a top level source revealed yesterday.
"And our exports are very significantly higher than certain quotas . . . the business plan of some vessels is that they fish illegally," he added.
Marine Minister Noel Dempsey is spearheading a drive to end the racketeering surrounding illegal catches in the dead of night.
Trawlers frequently make up to €700,000 a night illegally landing undeclared mackerel at quiet harbours with fleets of trucks waiting to spirit the cargo away for processing.
Mr Dempsey says there is systematic criminality at work in the industry. Double book-keeping is also involved with a special set of figures for the illegal catches.
Some boats are based at ports in the Republic while also landing massive catches illegally in the North and in Scotland. State fishery officers trying to crack down on the racket have been intimidated, it was also learned.
Fines
The EU has just fined France €57m for over-fishing over a 15-year period and is now focussing its attentions on Ireland which also faces huge daily fines.
There are also increasing concerns about the impact the over-fishing is having on fish stocks. Already, cod is practically wiped out in Irish seas.
Lending by the Irish banking sector to the fishing industry has soared in recent years. Between 2002 and 2005 alone, lending to the sector shot up from €286m to €400m.
According to figures prepared by the Killybegs Chamber of Commerce, the fishing sector in County Donegal alone has invested and borrowed €299m, primarily improving its fleet and factories.
As a result of Irish banking support, Ireland has a new generation of fishing vessels.
When the fishing quotas which were assigned to some of these vessels over the last few years are multiplied by the price of fish at the time, serious questions are raised about how some of these vessels finance themselves based solely on their official quotas.
Green Party TD Eamonn Ryan said he finds it surprising that Irish banks have been prepared to lend so much to build fishing vessels if they are solely funding themselves using official fishing quotas.
Mr Ryan added he would like to see the business plans that fishermen present when applying to the banks for finance.
"I think it is time that the banks answered questions about their lending policies to fund commercial fishing vehicles," he said.
