Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 17 June 2025

Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs

The Business of Seafood Report 2024: Bord Iascaigh Mhara

2:00 am

Manus Boyle (Fine Gael)
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On the question of boarfish, down on the pier I am hearing from skippers all the time that there is a vast quantity of boarfish out there. They are mixing in with herring and mackerel. Is there something that could be done there so that we could try to move it on? There seems to be a vast quantity of them out there. That is something we could really tap into.

I agree with Deputy Mac Lochlainn on the tax for the fishermen. It is in the programme for Government on the ten-point plan. That is bound to help moving forward. At the end of the day we need our fishermen to be looked after or we are going to have nobody.

My last question is on what BIM can do for the small fisherman who is doing his lobsters and his pots out there on a blustery day and for the small fish factory. BIM can give grant funding and stuff like that but is there anything else that could be done for these people? They are the heart and soul of the coastal communities and we cannot afford to lose anybody else. There needs to be something done and to take an in-depth look to see what these people give for their communities and what they are doing. It is just something we really need to look at.