oireachtas committee report on fisheries

http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/med ... 51-en.html

This report will be of interest to anyone involved in sea angling tourism promotion but time will tell how much of it will be adopted. It would be great to see more promotion however protection for angling stocks must be the basis for the overall strategy.

Agreed but I hope they don't mean practical courses on how to manage a fish farm on the Irish coast in conjuction with a new training agency called I found the light FAS

Certified, practical courses for fishing communities be established by Bord Iascaigh Mhara, in conjunction with new training agency SOLAS;

I suppose that this will lie on a dusty shelf someplace as most do!

That said, on a scan through the recommendations Sea Angling is mentioned only once:

Recommendation 24 (p.168): The sub-Committee calls upon Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI)
to work more closely with tourism agencies and to accord a high priority to the integration of
sea angling, where relevant, into tourism packages and marketing campaigns.

You can see the impact that commercial interests have in a report such as this.

Bass gets a mention. I would imagine that IFI made a contribution/submission and it is reflected in the text (Standard IFI stuff really). BIM also got a spoke in about bass:

BIM proposed that all stakeholders in the seabass fishery, including anglers, will have to give careful
consideration to their objectives and reach a consensus on a species management plan which might include
closed seasons and a mechanism allowing the sale of inadvertent catches.

It was noted by the sub-Committee the fact that Ireland has no seabass landings may mitigate against being
awarded any quota if it is determined on the basis of historical landings data. However, BIM did suggest that
there may be some value in the recorded catches of recreational fishers of which Inland Fisheries Ireland has
a long record and that this may be something that could be extrapolated by scientists.

I cannot see quotes like this helping IFI in their studies of bass numbers, log books etc.

I'd say 'inadvertant' catches could sky-rocket if this recommendation was passed

I would also be interested to see if the option of dual licensing of vessels is reviewed as recommended, if this was adopted it would impact the business models for future sea angling charter businesses in Ireland. I'm not sure the benefits of dual licensing would outweigh the negatives.
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The main reason that very little happens with regards fisheries is that the people that it most directly concerns have never organize themselves into a coherent lobby. The commercial fishing sector has been pee'd on from a great height for decades because it could never hit the establishment by altering the lineup of seats in the Dail. Left to the state, a lack of informed input and real political pressure has led to decisions which were invariably driven by ignorance. Therefore, despite handing over to the EU 20% of its total fishery area, we are allowed to catch approximately 4% of our own fish. This is a deal done by idiots.

The main reason that very little happens with regards fisheries is that the people that it most directly concerns have never organize themselves into a coherent lobby. The commercial fishing sector has been pee'd on from a great height for decades because it could never hit the establishment by altering the lineup of seats in the Dail. Left to the state, a lack of informed input and real political pressure has led to decisions which were invariably driven by ignorance. Therefore, despite handing over to the EU 20% of its total fishery area, we are allowed to catch approximately 4% of our own fish. This is a deal done by idiots.

Salar, I presume this post was meant to be a bit of a joke. The commercial sector has one of the most efficient lobby groups in the country- the FIF. They even accompany the minister to Brussels each year to make sure he makes "the right decision" on TAC and Quota. No decision on fisheries management in Ireland is made without their input. The commercial sector in Ireland is heavily subsidized with two state bodies (BIM and the MI) bending over backwards to accommodate them. As for your percentages on the Irish catch would you be so kind as to reference them as the do not match and figures that I have ever seen.
If you want to see a sector who have been "pee'd on" then take a look at sea anglers. In spite of a substantial contribution to the economy our needs are completely ignored. We have seen our catches decimated through no fault of our own and there is little hope of any improvement. The new CFP reform refused to even recognize recreational sea angling as a stakeholder in spite of the fact that the EU's own figures show that for the species we fish for, our contribution to the economy is greater than that of the commercial sector. So if you feel the need to feel sorry for someone, then maybe your sympathies should be directed elsewhere.

I see that the spectre of Galway Bay and it's abomination of a massive fish farm is well mentioned there too, not only that, but the bit about by catch of bass being sold is not something we should countenance in any way, shape or form. Living in Kerry, I know only too well, just how many Bass are being taken by those who are supposed to be draft netting. They are doing no such thing, they are drifting, with mono-filament nets, there is no use for such nets in draft fishing. The net needs to be very robust to withstand being dragged across the bed of the watercourse, they are fishing. Were they to be doing as they are supposed to, then they would be able to release the Bass accidental captured, something they cannot do when the fish is mangled in a meshing mono-filament net.

This is not good for any form of angling, BIM are now suggesting that some 45 mtrs, of water, the maximum depth of Galway Bay, is deep sea. The proper depth for deep sea starts at 1000 mtrs, so yet again we find them and this government telling lies. It should be noted that the last government, with the go ahead from the Marine Institute, who stated that lice were a major cause of fatalities in migrating smolts, placed an embargo on new salmon farms. Once this lot got in, FG, they imminently ignored that decision and bent over backwards to help Marine Harvest, then the Marine Institute produced a paper which stated that only 1% of migrating Salmonoid young fish were killed by the sea lice coming from the salmon farms, something they swore by, and a complete turn about from their view when FF were the government. Their paper has since been rubbished by peer groups worldwide. It is estimated that between 35 and 45% of the migrating wild fish are killed.

This is not good news to say the least, all that is says to me is we are here to assist, in any way, be it lying or any other underhand method, the commercial interests and Marin Harvest, to hell with angling and the revenue it brings in. This government, I never vote for they are all useless, are all for money making and for those with money, they have no time for the common man, they only care for the big dealer people and big businesses.

With regard to Salar, commercial spy or not, I have read papers which state that the French got the biggest allowance of Cod, Whiting and Haddock, in the Celtic Sea, by a very long way, when the allowances were set. I do not know what has happened since, but it stinks that they come here and take the most of our value fish.

Regards Wez

we signed away our fisheries in 73 - that was the price of joining the EU

but werent the farmers taken care of....

I think that both the farmers and fishermen have been taken care of. The fishermen have repeatedly got everything they asked for, and as was stated earlier in this thread, by JohnQ, they have and still get far too much money handed to them, for nothing. They say jump and every minister there has been has asked how high sir.

Regards Wez

It's all detailed in "Overkill", Ed Fahey's brilliant book on our fishing industry.

It's all detailed in "Overkill", Ed Fahey's brilliant book on our fishing industry.

It sure is, a very detailed, very clear and well researched book. Shows how power over the industry has been concentrated in the hands of a relative few. Disaster for the smaller operators.

The Treaty of Rome (1958) which originally defined what we NOW call the European Union said that fisheries would divided according according to 'historical fish catches'. Seems reasonable enough, until you throw The Republic of Ireland into the Mix.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea around the same time ( 1958 and again in 1960) proposed that traditional 6 and 12 mile limits would be extended out to 200 miles. This meant that when it was finalised (1982) Ireland - given its European geography- as an independent entity would suddenly have sole jurisdiction over truly VAST fishing resources irrespective of the historical catches of any other nation in that geographic block.

It therefore follows that when we came to negotiating our terms of entry into Europe in the early seventies we would - according to the Treaty of Rome - be giving away - an enormous asset because due to our history vis a vis our next door neighbour - our fish catches in the block were almost non-existent.
Because we sent a bunch of idiots to agree to this anomaly our quota has been proportionately tiny ever since. A more sane position which would have been been that given the size and value of this asset, we do not agree to this until our fishing industry has been developed to a degree fairer and more proportionate to the value of the asset we are handing over.

I have been too long involved with fisheries to be lectured to about how WELL our present commercial fisheries lobbies does on behalf of itself. The fact is that a better position on buggerall is still buggerall. And if the sea angling interests feels left out, then shame on them for not having a foot in the door all that time ago when it really mattered.

With regard to Salar, commercial spy or not, I have read papers which state that the French got the biggest allowance of Cod, Whiting and Haddock, in the Celtic Sea, by a very long way, when the allowances were set. I do not know what has happened since, but it stinks that they come here and take the most of our value fish.

Regards Wez

Spying on behalf of who? This really weird concept is why fisheries in general in Ireland are up sh*tcreek - an inability to recognize a common interest.