Super Trawlers Ban Them Call!

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

We have followed up correspondence to the Irish government about the marine vandalism cause by so called ‘super trawlers’ fishing of the West of the British Isles with a call to both the EU Commissioner for the Marine Environment and the UK government to act before these vessels do irreparable damage to both fish stocks and the overall marine eco-system.

The text of the correspondence is set out below:

“Karmenu Vella
Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
Director-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
Rue Joseph II, 99
B-1000 Brussels
Belgium

20th November 2015

Dear Sir,

I have written recently to both the Irish and United Kingdom government about the impact that so called super trawlers are having on sea fisheries around the British Isles.

It must be apparent to the Commission that vessels of this size working in packs and able to process hundreds of tonnes of fish per day are doing irreparable damage to both fish stocks and the marine environment generally.

Other countries globally have acted to ban these vessels from their waters and it will be a gross dereliction of responsibility if the Commission does not act to curb this scale of industrial fishing before irreparable damage is done not only to EU fishery stocks but also the general marine environment.

I trust you will take time to consider our correspondence to the UK and Irish governments any responses will of course be forwarded to you

Yours sincerely

J B Moffatt (Mr)
Director of Information”

“George Eustace MP
Minister of State for Farming, Food, and the Marine Environment
DEFRA
Nobel House
17 Smith Square
London
SW1P 3JR

20th November 2015

Dear Minister,

I draw your attention to the attached correspondence to An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, concerning the operation of so called super-trawlers off the West of Ireland. I highlight three vessels specifically but later in this fishing particular ‘excursion’ other similar vessels joined the fleet in that area.

Obviously the eco system around the British Isles is balanced and the operation of these vessels off Ireland or to the West of Scotland must ultimate impact severely on the marine environment.

All the vessels we indentified can catch and process several hundreds of tonnes daily and there size is between 9,000-13,000 tonnes. They not only virtually eliminate fish stock but they destroy the livelihood of indigenous fishermen in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

These vessels do not just expropriate large quantities of the allocated catch but also destroy other stock as a ‘by catch’ (which is often discarded) and also snare marine mammals such as immature whales, dolphins and seals.

Invariably all the vessels we identified also have ‘form’ having been fined for fisheries offences in Ireland or France.

Many countries have banned these vessels from their waters because of their destructive impact including several countries in Africa and Australia.

I would ask you as a matter of urgency to have the United Kingdom government raise the issue of these so called super-trawlers with the EU Fisheries Commissioner. Should their activities not be curbed irreparable damage will be done to fish stocks in the sea areas around the British Isles.

We will be writing ourselves to the EU Commissioner on this matter.

Yours sincerely,

J B Moffatt (Mr)
Director of Information”

The earlier correspondence to An Taoiseach can be found in the post on these pages titled;

‘IRISH GOVERNMENT URGED TO BAN FOREIGN FLAGGED SUPER TRAWLERS’

Posted on 16th November.

BERNARD MOFFATT

Issued by: The Celtic News

19/11/15

THE CELTIC LEAGUE INFORMATION SERVICE.

The Celtic League established in 1961 has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It promotes cooperation between the countries and campaigns on a range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It highlights human rights abuse, military activity and socio-economic issues

http://celticleague.net

Photo: Super Trawler 'Margiris' Fishing