Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)

I welcome the presence of the Minister of State for this important item. The whitefish sector in the north west is severely hampered by the imposition of the Kw days at sea requiremen which came into legal effect on 1 February 2009. In addition to the Kw days at sea regulation, the north-west whitefish sector was hit also by a new set of technical conservation measures agreed at the December 2008 Fisheries Council. The combined effect of these measures means that local vessels which have traditionally fished in the area will no longer have a sufficient number of days to do so. For a large part of the same area, the increases in mesh sizes mean that their mix of fisheries is no longer possible. This is the death knell for the whitefish sector in the north west with the loss of hundreds of jobs unless its effect is immediately reversed.

We are told by the EU Commission that the days at sea regulations relate to a need to protect the cod fishery. If this is the case, why should these rules apply to vessels that do not catch cod or have a very small by-catch? Like my colleague, Deputy McHugh, I am from Donegal and I am fully aware of the importance of the fishing industry to the county. I find it very difficult to understand why these restrictions have been imposed on Irish vessels with negligible cod catches. The whitefish industry in the north west is very important to fishing ports such as Killybegs and Deputy McHugh's Greencastle and is providing much-needed employment at sea and ashore in these ports.

In this time of economic crisis and the need to protect jobs, it is absolutely essential that the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, ensures the whitefish sector in the north west is not wiped out. I am calling on the Minister of State to apply immediately for exemptions and derogations for the Kw days at sea and the mesh size increases for Irish vessels fishing in the north west. It is totally unacceptable that French, UK and Spanish vessels have more Kw days at sea in our area and are able to continue to fish when our vessels are tied up due to insufficient days. The Minister of State must surely agree that this is not right and must be immediately addressed. I am calling on him to work with the fishing industry, the Marine Institute and BIM to ensure a viable whitefish industry in the north west.

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