|
|
Greencastle will be "wiped out"
18.11.08
GREENCASTLE fishing
port will be "wiped out" if an EU proposal to ban
whitefish fishing off the North West is allowed
through.
That's according to Foyle Fishermen's Co-Op manager
John O'Kane who described the measures as
"unbelievable and draconian".
Greencastle is the biggest whitefish port in the
North West and second biggest in the country after
Castletownbere, Co Cork. It is worth around €50m
annually to the Greencastle and wider Inishowen
economy when fish catches, processing and ancillary
businesses are taken into account. |
The Co-Op members who
are already under pressure due to reduced quotas and
who are demoralised because they are being forced to
dump fish at sea, now fear the total collapse of
their industry.
"This proposal would basically wipe out Greencastle
as far as the whitefish fleet goes and would put
between 300 and 400 people out of work when you
include the |
 |
fishermen themselves
and the local ancillary businesses such as the net
menders and engineers," said Mr O'Kane. "People had
started to come back into fishing because of the
downturn in the construction industry, but this
would finish it altogether." Greencastle fishermen
were left reeling last Thursday following the shock
proposal by the European Commission to ban all
whitefish fisheries in Area 6 which spans from
County Mayo right up to Scotland. The Commission
also wants to reduce by a quarter catches of major
species taken by the Irish fleet. Mr O'Kane called
on the Tánaiste Mary Coughlan and her colleagues,
the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food,
Brendan Smith and his Junior Minister Tony Killeen
to intervene before the next Council of Ministers
meeting in mid-December.
"We need Mary Coughlan to understand the reality
here. Between 300 and 400 jobs will be under
pressure in her own county. This proposal needs to
be stopped in its tracks immediately," he added. |
|
