1st June 2005

“IS&WFO to meet Commissioner Borg on high fuel prices”

Jason Whooley, Manager of the Irish South and West Fishermens Organisation, is travelling to Brussels today to meet Fisheries Commissioner Borg. The meeting is being held to discuss the impact rising fuel costs are having on the Fishing Industry. The delegation will include representatives from France, Spain, the UK, Denmark, Italy, Holland and Belgium. Mr. Whooley commented in advance of the meeting, “We are pleased to be getting an opportunity to meet Commissioner Borg. We will be outlining to him the harsh economic realities that exist within the Fishing Industry at present. Fuel is our single biggest over-head the price of marine fuel has increased by 46% in the last twenty months. We are in a unique position in that we cannot pass on the increased costs to the consumer. This high fuel cost is causing a crisis in profitability for our fleet.”

Mr. Whooley added, “We will be discussing with Commissioner Borg how best we can tackle this situation at European level. The IS&WFO have been working with representatives around Europe for the past number of weeks in an attempt to force intervention at EU level. In addition, we hope that this issue will be on the agenda at the next Council of Fisheries Ministers meeting.”