John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)

This Bill has brought to my mind the fishing industry in Waterford or what is left of it. I could not find any definitive figures for the number of people in County Waterford or nationally who are making a living from the sea. I did some research and found some reports done over the past ten years which give an idea of what has happened to the industry generally. In 1999 the report, the National Investment Priorities for the Irish Seafood Industry 2000-2006, prepared by the national strategy review group on the Common Fisheries Policy, stated the industry, comprising fishing, aquaculture, processing and ancillary sectors, employed 15,832 people directly between full-time and part-time jobs. In 2003, a report from EUROSTAT and the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries put employment at 10,584 for the entire sector including fishing, aquaculture, processing and ancillary sectors, a reduction of 5,000 jobs since the 1999 report. In 2006, a Marine Institute report, Sea Change, estimated direct and indirect employment in the industry stood at 5,960.

According to three government-sponsored reports, 10,000 direct and indirect jobs have been lost in seven years in the fishing industry. Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM, figures suggest the numbers working on fishing vessels is actually down to 2,100 people.

The industry has been obliterated since Fianna Fáil came to power 13 years ago. I suggest for next year's census, the occupational grouping, "Farming, fishing and forestry" is separated so a clear picture of how many fishermen are left can be garnered. I have no great expectation there will be much of an improvement on the figures I have just given.

One reason it has become unattractive to remain in fishing is that fishermen face excessive criminal sanctions and prosecutions for minor offences and breaches of fishing quotas. In County Waterford, there was the historical issue of how fishermen were treated in the recent past by those who were meant to be responsible for enforcing the law. It is only 11 years ago that three officials from the southern fisheries board were dismissed from their posts after several inquiries. For 20 years, there had been allegations of corrupt activities on the part of several senior fisheries officers in the board. Salmon fishermen fishing from Wexford through Waterford to Ballycotton were subject to a campaign of intimidation and, on occasions, violence by these officials. Several fishermen were wrongly sent to prison, many were assaulted and dozens lost their licences and were never able to make a living again from fishing.

The Minister of State, Deputy Seán Connick, must consider what has happened to the fishing industry under Fianna Fáil's watch. The Government needs to incentivise people to return to making a living from the sea instead of making it harder by prosecuting them for minor fisheries offences. Most of the fishermen in my county are already gone. The least the Government can do is introduce a reasonable regime of administrative sanctions that will make it bearable for those remaining fishermen.

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