Fishermen: minister’s ideology is hurting us
SINN Fein’s agriculture minister has been accused of putting her republicanism ahead of the interests of local fishermen after “capitulating” to an EU demand.
Michelle O’Neill has broken ranks with her counterparts in England, Scotland and Wales by accepting a European call for Northern Ireland’s prawn trawlers to fit special gear to their boats or lose extra days at sea.
Dick James, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Fish Producers’ Organisation, told industry magazine Fishing News that fishermen are angry that a letter from Ms O’Neill to an EU commissioner gave the impression that local fishermen had agreed to the move, something which he disputed.
Mr James said that the minister was out of step with the rest of the UK but in line with the Republic and raised concerns that there had been political pressure from Dublin to follow its lead.
He said that boats in the Republic were working in clearer waters where the new EU-sanctioned ‘Swedish grid’ could work but that the main Ulster prawn grounds off the coast of Ardglass had large quantities of seaweed which would “clog up grids in minutes”.
Paul Leeman, a commercial fisherman who is a member of the Conservative Party, accused Ms O’Neill of pursuing “a blatant political agenda”.
He told the News Letter that in a letter to the UK fisheries minister Ms O’Neill had been “very keen to give a false impression that fishermen in Northern Ireland were on board with her plans”.
He said: “In truth Ms O’Neill has acted completely contrary to the interests of the fishing industry in Northern Ireland. The equipment needed to make our fleet conform to this EU diktat is completely unsuitable for local vessels, which tend to be smaller, and for the waters which our fishermen work.”
In a statement Ms O’Neill said: “Mr Leeman clearly hasn’t a clue what he is talking about.
“I had discussions with representatives of our local industry on December 13 and what I was able to agree with them was an objective that by July 2012 we would have our prawn fleet fishing with fishing gear that would enable them to be exempt from the effort control regime imposed by the cod plan.
“We intend to succeed in this endeavour because a successful outcome will ensure that our prawn fleet, which represents around 95 per cent of the local trawlers, will be able to fish the prawn quota in future unfettered by restrictions on the number of days they can spend at sea.”
Ms O’Neill said that her department was funding a “gear trials project” of five alternatives to the Swedish grid.
However, Mr James last night said that he was “extremely cynical” about the possibility of any alternative to the Swedish grid being accepted by the EU.
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Weather for Belfast
Tuesday 29 May 2012
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