Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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I thank Mr. O'Corcora and Mr. Connolly for the presentation. It is good to have people representing not just vested interests in fishing but the communities they come from. The IIE effectively does that, representing the largest number of people involved in the sector. They all come from the coastal communities most affected by the prevailing policies and the lack of policy to ensure fishermen, their families and their communities can survive. Regrettably, successive Governments have done the complete opposite. In reading the presentation, I thought it was an affront to democracy that neither the previous Government nor the current Government has met the organisation. It is an indictment of the political system that this is the case. Some 4,500 people involved in the sector are effectively voiceless when it comes to decision-making processes. They are not being listened to and have no voice at the table.

I come from further up the same bay as Mr. O'Corcora and I grew up in the same environment of small farming and fishing communities with multiple fishing types throughout the year. There was potting in the early part of the year, salmon in the summer and oysters in the winter. This was replicated along the west coast and parts of the south coast. There was also small farming in order to provide sustainable incomes for people in the community. These were vibrant communities because people were community-orientated, not individualistic. Successive Governments have made a point about how progressive some fishermen are. The fact that 23 people own the entire quota is an indictment of the political system.

I was on the committee while an industry was taken from rural communities. People from different political persuasions, including Fianna Fáil backbenchers, spoke against what Noel Dempsey was doing. They were forced by the Whip to vote for what was done, which was a disgrace. Senator Denis O'Donovan, who was a Deputy at the time and is from west Cork, was totally opposed to what was happening.

Taking the salmon industry from our community had a terrible effect and put pressure on other sectors within fishing. In order to maintain a sustainable income, people switched over to crayfish, gillnetting and lobster fishing, putting extra pressure on the area. With regard to the number of pots people can fish on our coast, a regular-sized fishing person who is fishing crayfish and lobster pots has up to 900 pots. Twenty years ago, 150 pots was a sizeable amount of gear. Now, one must multiply it by five or six in order to have a sustainable income. I wish decision makers could see how difficult it is for people to survive. One of my best friends is a selector on the same football team as me. He is a crewman on a boat and he has hauled 600 pots for less than €50 for the day. He was out from 4 a.m. until 12 midnight for less than €50 in order to put bread on the table for his family. That is what the system and the State have done to people like the witnesses. I applaud them for coming here and everything they have said makes sense. The decision-makers must decide where the quota will go. All we can do, as elected representatives, is to give our absolute commitment to ensure that most of what is put before us is implemented. We must pressurise the people who make decisions to implement the suggestions.

I cannot understand how the bass industry can allow non-Irish boats fishing our waters while we cannot. It does not make sense. We have no quota. The witnesses are correct about spurdog, which is thick in the water. When jigging for mackerel in July and August, one gets a lot more spurdog than mackerel close to the rocks. It is soul-destroying to see what is happening to our communities. Irrespective of our political parties, committee members must be vocal in pursuit of the aims and objectives of what the witnesses are promoting so that the 4,500 people involved in the sector can put food on the table for their families, live in the communities in which they were born and continue in the industry.

Culling seals as humanely as possible, which has always been done, is how we protect stocks. Some cowboys do it and give the whole thing a bad name and it has the opposite effect. We need a cull for salmon. There are culls of badgers, deer and other species in order to keep a balance. When we were allowed to fish salmon, there was nothing worse than seeing 15 or 20 salmon in the net and seeing the seal taking the salmon out of the net. When it drops to the bottom, the seal is eating the salmon and the fisherman is going home with nothing.

The wider public just see the headline; they do not understand what it takes to bring all this about.

I wish the delegates the best and compliment them on their work. I am delighted that the committee has had the delegation before it. The members present are from coastal communities and know exactly what the delegates are talking about. We know exactly what they have gone through and the difficulties associated with trying to maintain the fabric of the community and industry. However, we need to get others to listen. That is the way we will go.