Scallop fishermen suspend port protests
Scallop fisherman have suspended protests at East Coast ports pending the outcome of discussions with politicians, it was confirmed tonight.
Angry fishermen blocked the exit of the Rosslare Europort in Wexford and Waterford port with their trawlers to highlight the new fishing restrictions imposed by the Government – badly affecting over 1,500 passengers yesterday.
However, fishermen have called off any further protests in Wexford until 5pm on Thursday to allow talks to take place on the issue.
The fishermen, who were mainly from Kilmore Quay, were joined by local fish factory workers to protest over the Bank Holiday at the new EU regulations cutting the number of days at sea for boats.
Worried fishermen said the restrictions would limit them to eight days trawling per month for the rest of the year – seriously endangering their livelihoods.
The fisherman have threatened to resume the blockade if talks between Michael Walsh of the Irish South and East Fishermen’s Organisation and John Browne, a junior minister at the Agriculture Department, are unsuccessful.
Mr Walsh, who has proposed a business-saving plan including blocking some of the larger fishing vessels from trawling, said more protests were inevitable if the fishermen did not get a positive outcome on the new restrictions.
He said: “We have highlighted the urgency of this situation.”
The fishermen said this gives the Government 48 hours to come up with some solution to the problem.
Fish processors have warned that up to 500 factory jobs in the Kilmore area may also be lost if the Government does not tackle the problem.
Marine Minister Pat ’The Cope’ Gallagher said: “There is no catch limitations on the scallop fishermen, there is a limitation on the number of days at sea and unfortunately the fish grounds are in the channels, much further away from Wexford and Waterford than heretofore.
“The length of time they are taken away from the port is taken into consideration not the length of time they are fishing.”
The Minister of State at the Department said he recognised the financial implications for the fishermen but was bound by the European regime entered into in 2002 to preserve fish stocks.
The Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources said that in the absence of restrictions around three-quarters of the annual allocation for 2005 have been used up in the first five months of the year.
He said: “I have realised the implications if I were to allow the fishery to continue as it is I would have no choice but to close it down within a matter of weeks.
“I have imposed this restriction in order to ensure continuity and in order to allow the fishery to extend into later in the year and to give a continuity of supply to the processors as well.”
Yesterday’s blockade at the Rosslare port saw trawlers disrupting the travel of ferries to and from the port, with Waterford port also blocked for several hours.
Sailing schedules to and from Rosslare are running as usual as the talks take place to try and solve the dispute.
