After ICES advice released this week, the reality is almost 2,000 Irish fish processing jobs face an uncertain future
Since Brexit the Irish Pelagic Processing sector has struggled with the greatly reduced pelagic quotas and the strangling over regulation within Ireland only as opposed to elsewhere within the EU, but despite all that; in the years since the Trade and Co operation Agreement with the United Kingdom the Irish pelagic sector alone has invested over €70 million in transforming the sector.
The publication of the ICES advice this week, indicating quotas such as Mackerel reduced by 70%, Blue Whiting less 41%, Boarfish by 22% and Horse Mackerel less 2% has shocked the entire sector to the core.
Speaking to The Skipper, Brendan Byrne CEO of the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association said:.
“Our new-found realities will be undisputed if these are the cuts to be adopted, then the processing sector is facing Economic Armageddon, having already lost 26% of the value of our fish pelagic quotas due to Brexit, which amounts to over €180 million of mackerel by todays pricing. The loss of 70% of the remaining quota, will spell massive factory closures, and job loss that will equally affect the services sectors as much as the processing companies.
For the past thirty years, mackerel has been the economic engine that has kept vessels, our ports, the numerous fish processing factories, the myriad of service industries sustained and profitable, without mackerel our industry will cease to exist or just become irrelevant in scale. Particularly coupled with reductions recommended in Blue Whiting and Boarfish quotas, the ICES recommendation has hit three of the four main species which the Irish pelagic processing sector depend upon the most. The same scenario, is unfolding within the whitefish sector, with the number of species in particular areas facing zero TAC advice increasing by the year.
Our National Government, need to become fully aware of the scale of economic upheaval and potential devastation that lies ahead, unless action is taken through them at European Commission level. Ireland needs to challenge the architects of this destruction, the gross overfishing by Norway, Faroe Islands and Iceland, along with the newly found accomplices the United Kingdom.
Ireland must pursue the EU to fully implement new trade and market access restriction on any third country that through their policies and failure to comply with coastal states, has actively destroyed and undermined the fishing of the EU by setting autonomous quotas for themselves.
Ireland must immediately notify the EU, that until such time as agreement is restored within coastal states, that no third country engaged in overfishing will be permitted access to any EU fishing grounds, especially to the waters West of Ireland.
The EU needs to defend its own members, rather than the weak and incoherent approach which we have witness to date, trade with the EU block needs to be respected, agreements with the EU need to be respected, the right of Member States to their own fisheries needs to be a corner stone of what the EU is about and till that balance is restored – the EU should at least defend its integrity and fight for its member states.
The reckless, destructive and rogue behaviour of any country outside of the EU need to quickly realise that the EU doors will close on them; when they play outside the rules, agreements and in particular lead to the decimation of a shared stock ” – concluded Brendan Byrne
