Livelihoods of Irish fishermen at risk

national | miscellaneous | news report Sunday February 09, 2003 12:09 by Republican

The invasion of Spanish fishing fleets into Irish waters off the Kerry coast will have a detrimental effect on the livelihoods of fishermen throughout the county, the local branch of Republican Sinn Fein claimed today.

RSF spokesman John O’Shea from Ballylongford said that
the opening up of Irish fishing grounds to the Spanish is a
retrograde step and it will devastate Irish fish stocks.

“While there is little the ordinary people can do to
highlight our concern, the fact remains that our elected
representatives are silent on the issue,” said Mr. O’Shea.

“This invasion by the Spanish will be akin to the days of
the Armada when they wrought havoc along the Irish coastline.

“For generations the Irish fishermen have fished within set
quotas and as a result made a positive contribution to the
conservation of fish stocks.

“Now with the arrival of the Spanish all this positive effort is doomed in an onslaught of over fishing that is bound to decimate stocks.

“There must be some restraint imposed on the Spanish, other
wise the livelihoods of Kerry fishermen will be seriously
undermined. We are now calling on the elected representatives to protest in relation to this latest setback for the Irish fishing industry.”

(End)