Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)

I assure Deputy Aylward, from my experience on the ground, that in the year salmon drift net fishing was outlawed, there was a huge run of salmon. Deputy Dooley would know from his contacts in west Clare - people who continue to do a small bit of fishing illegally, if that is the word one wants to use - that the salmon are running as well as they were back in the 1970s and 1980s. It is inaccurate to say the drift fishermen were responsible. When drift nets were taken out of Irish waters, it was the end of their livelihood for a sector of the fishing fleet and this contributed to the pressure on other sectors. No consideration was given to the fact that people were being made redundant. Those people moved into potting of lobster and crayfish, gill netting and so forth, which put pressure on those sectors.

The legislation that introduced the criminal sanctions against coastal communities and fishermen has led to great resentment and animosity between the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority and entire communities. We must do the right thing now by removing criminal sanctions against decent, honourable people trying to make a living.

See this speech in context