Mr. Mícheál Ó Catháin:

Ba mhaith liom ar an gcéad dul síos buíochas a ghabháil leis an gcoiste as ucht cuireadh a thabhairt dúinn teacht anseo inniu. Is mise Mícheál Ó Catháin as Iascairí Cois Cósta Inis Óirr. Cúpla bliain ó shin, tháinig muid le chéile mar go raibh imní mhór orainn leis an todhchaí atá amach romhainn san iascaireacht cois cósta.

Winter storms are part of our lives. This year was unusual in that we had more of them than we would have normally, and our location is particularly exposed being a small island. Damage done to boats and fishing gear is relative to the scale of the fishing operation. For many years, fishing on our island was seasonal and part-time, as is tourism and farming but in recent years we have been forced to work through the year in dangerous conditions to try to make a living due to a significant decrease in the price of lobsters, the increase in the price of equipment and so on. In addition, living on an island and fishing in a traditional way, many of our members would make their own equipment rather than buy it, therefore, in terms of applying for this compensation, receipts do not apply.

Fishing in this way all year round is not sustainable in the long term. We know that because our area is so small. We live in a unique location and community, and we have to make a living in a unique fashion, not amenable to the practices of large-scale operations but grounded on the traditions and reality of island life, which can be different.

Compensation packages alone for the small, traditional operators offer little in ensuring the long-term sustainability of our industry, which is mainly traditional. Many of our members engage in what we would call subsistence fishing. Some are not making an income or even breaking even, yet they are maintaining a tradition that has been handed down to us by our forefathers.

We would be interested in a managed fishery with a closed season and pot limit, with regulation dealing with the taking of berried lobsters and other issues to do with the long-term sustainability of our livelihood. The compensation package we are discussing today might not deal with that but perhaps it should be examined.

We see a big input for a local management structure to implement a sustainable fishery because if there is not consensus among the local fishermen, it will be very difficult to implement any of this; that must be the starting point.

Regarding income loss into the future, we see the proposed salmon farming venture by BIM as the biggest single threat to our environment and to our fishery, which has sustained us for many generations and on which we depend for our future because who will compensate us for the loss of our fisheries? We are talking about a 500 ha farm, which will take up most of our inshore fisheries. Therefore, there must be compensation for the loss of our fisheries.