Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

In our programme for Government, we give a commitment to ensuring that inshore waters will continue to be protected for small fishing vessels and recreational fishers and that pair trawling will be prohibited inside the six mile limit. Were that not enough, under sustainable development goal 14.4, we have committed to effectively regulate destructive fishing practices and implement science-based management practices. However, just two weeks ago, Mr. Justice Murray upheld an appeal against the introduction of a policy directive to create such an exclusion zone for larger boats within the six nautical miles. His judgment does not say it as boldly as I will but we have made a bags of introducing and applying this directive. This directive is now overturned and we find ourselves back at square one; all the while we are fishing our seas out. Where do we go from here and, in a biodiversity crisis, how long will it take us to get there?

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