When I was Minister for fisheries in 1982, we saw for the first time the benefit of EU membership in enhanced funding for reconstruction of fishing vessels, enhancement of training for fishermen and the provision of new piers and harbours. The reality is that when we joined the Community our harbours and fishing coasts were falling into the sea; in fact, a bulldozer doing some work in Youghal wound up in the sea. It was European investment that enabled the fishing industry here to thrive and develop but we never had proper management of our fisheries. We poached and polluted the salmon fisheries and overfished the herring and mackerel fisheries to the extent that they are now almost extinct.