Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. Steele and her colleagues for attending. The fishing community is aggrieved because its members believe they have been criminalised under legislation. There have been stand-offs at various ports between fishing communities and SFPA officials. Perhaps the problem is with the legislators, given that the authority is simply enforcing the legislation.

I refer to super trawlers. Those of us who live in coastal communities regularly hear that fishermen are expected to jump through hoops, dot the i's and cross the t's, while super trawlers can operate in Irish waters. Dr. Steele mentioned the new coastal state unit.

The FV Margirisis the second largest super trawler in the world, capable of processing 250 tonnes a day. It was operating off the coast of Donegal quite recently. It is banned from Australian waters but is out there, off our coast. What is the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA doing about this? Will the authority ensure officers will be on board these super trawlers while they are fishing in Irish waters? We need an assurance. I am sure all the witnesses watched the documentary "Atlantic". I found it very powerful to see Gerry Earley, a fisherman out in his wee boat off the Donegal islands, being brought to court again for alleged fishing offences while out behind him was what he described as a city of super trawlers and lights. That to me is offensive and embarrassing to our State and to our people.

I want a cast-iron assurance given to this committee today over what the SFPA is doing to ensure these super trawlers are not taking a single fish more than what they are entitled to under the quota laws. What guarantees can the authority give me here today as a Member of the Oireachtas and to the fishing communities concerned? They have alleged to us that there are double standards in the ways that laws are enforced on their communities and limited livelihood because of the Common Fisheries Policy versus the super trawlers. Given also that the FV Margirisis banned from Australian waters, why is it not banned from our waters? What is the difference between the Australian policymakers and ours? I would like cast-iron assurances today on the issue of super trawlers and on the sense that our seas are being hoovered up by them while our own small-scale fishermen operating out of piers and harbours around the coast are being made jump through hoops to comply with standards. We have to be able to assure people that these standards apply to everyone equally, and that Irish fishermen have a fair opportunity. I do not believe that is the case at the moment.