“IS&WFO meet with Joint Oireachtas Committee in Castletownbere”

IS&WFO met representatives from the Joint Oireachtas Committee (JOC) on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources again recently in Castletownbere. The meeting was a follow-up to a previous meeting in June where the main issue discussed was decriminalisation of fishery offences. The Chairman of the JOC, Mr. Noel O Flynn T.D., outlined the progress that had been made on this issue since June. Deputy O’ Flynn invited the IS&WFO to contribute to a JOC hearing on the issue which will take place in October. The Minister for Marine Mr. Pat "the Cope" Gallagher will also attend this hearing.

Jason Whooley, Manager of the IS&WFO welcomed this latest development, "We are pleased that this issue has been taken up by the Joint Oireachtas Committee and we’re hopeful that real progress towards the decriminalisation of fishery offences can be made. Our fishermen are operating under a far more punitive system than their European counterparts at present. This fact has been demonstrated by several EU Commission reports which have highlighted discrepancies in how different countries deal with fishery offences."

The IS&WFO also briefed the Committe on several other crucial issues for the industry which included:-
· The crisis in the industry being caused by high fuel prices
· The widespread destruction of fish stocks by illegal gillnets

Mr. Whooley added "It was a very useful opportunity to welcome the Committee to Castletownbere and to outline our main issues to them. We feel that these exchanges are critical as the Committee members can see first hand the issues the industry is facing. We are looking to make progress on all of these issues in the near future and hopefully the Joint Oireachtais Committee can be of assistance".