Mary Henry (Independent)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I welcome this Bill.

The fishing industry has changed totally in recent times. Most of the fishing is not carried out from small wooden hulled boats, with a handful of men going out on short trips, but from multimillion euro vessels, some of which are fishing as far down as the African coast. These enormous vessels are the ones that are causing the damage. The small vessels had to go to the wall a long time ago and exist in much smaller numbers than was the case in the past. While it is still a dangerous occupation for the men who work on these boats, it is not the same for those fishermen who work on large seaworthy vessels, which is welcome. The people who are causing the trouble are the ones who have disregarded the rules for decades. People who have false holes in ships are landing in other ports and do not mind in the least that there must be confiscation of tackle, the fish catch and gear if they are found to be in breach of the regulations. They are so well off, they can afford to do the same thing all over again.

Senator MacSharry said that it would be great if we could turn back the clock. Indeed, that is the case. However, we would have to turn it back a long time to when Irish fishermen were disadvantaged during the negotiations for entry into what was then the European Economic Community. At the time the Common Agricultural Policy for farmers gained at the expense of fishermen with the Common Fisheries Policy, which has been recognised for a long time.

There will be no fishermen if there are no fish. I do not know if Members read a book called Cod on the situation that developed on the Labrador Bank off Nova Scotia. These were some of the richest fishing grounds in the world. For hundreds of years, fish came even to Ireland and down into the Caribbean from the Labrador Bank, where many Irish people had settled. They had abundant fish supplies until approximately 40 years ago when the overfishing began. The cod were gone from the bank about 20 years ago and they have not returned. It has not been restored. The fishermen in that area have no fishing and the situation in Newfoundland is almost the same. We could end up in the same situation if legislation such as this is not introduced.

It would be great if we could get our other EU partners to be as serious about enforcing their legislation, because it is a problem in our waters. However, it would be very difficult for us to say that they should enforce their legislation when we have not done so with our legislation. As I have never been a fisher person, I find it difficult to understand why all the small and under-sized fish which are caught here must be thrown back dead into the Atlantic and the Irish Sea, whereas they are thrown back alive from fishing vessels in the Baltic? Perhaps the Minister will clarify the issue in his reply. I welcome the Bill and I will support the vote on it.