Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I commend my colleague, Senator Grace O'Sullivan, on the tremendous amount of work she has done on this motion, which I was delighted to co-sign. The motion is another example of how important it is to have voices like hers in the Oireachtas making the case for protecting our natural environment. We are the custodians of this world for future generations and we need to heed the almost daily warnings about environmental matters.

Before I speak about one specific aspect of the motion, I will respond to some comments made by Senator Coffey. We call for an end to new licences being granted for fossil fuels and mining, as we have done many times before. We understand, however, that the Common Fisheries Policy cannot be changed unilaterally. That is why we only ask that the Government would seek to change the system and make it fairer. We want to work with our European partners, many of whom have moved way ahead of us in this area.

The motion specifically calls for designated marine protected areas to be community led. This matter is very important to me. The Government must ensure that fishing communities are cared for and protected as we also work to protect our seas. Those communities know better than anyone what happens off our coasts and are aware of the threat that climate change poses to livelihoods. I vividly remember a briefing that took place here in Leinster House last year. I listened to one fishermen speak passionately about the four generations of his family who had worked on fishing boats. He explained that the industry was much more than just a job to them.It was a central part of their identity and way of life. He was so emotional and deeply upset that because of falling fish stock and degradation of water quality, his son would be the first in a line of five generations who could not take up this way of life. I keep those people in mind today. I often speak about Rathlin Island, where my family is from. It is a great example of the cultural heritage that also surrounds these island communities. A healthy ecosystem is so important to maintaining that heritage. The local history, folklore, myth, placenames, navigation lines, wildlife, migration routes, tidal currents, streams, shipwrecks and marine life are all closely interlinked. These cultural aspects of our islands bring a richness to life there and they depend on healthy ecosystems to keep them going through the generations.

The ecosystems approach holds that humans are part of the ecosystem and human activities both affect the ecosystem and depend on it. That is the spirit of this motion - protecting our waters for people and also for the fish that swim in them. In 1992, the convention on biological diversity noted that the ecosystems approach is a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way. It recognises that humans with their cultural diversity are an integral component of many ecosystems. This highlights again the key role that fishing communities play in marine protection such as their ability to highlight the risk to marine life from fossil fuel exploration. Fishermen in the Porcupine Basin report that tuna and mackerel are no longer travelling to those areas to feed. They are telling journalists and ecologists alike that great damage is being done by seismic testing and the terrible practices of supertrawlers or enforcement agencies.

We often talk about the healthy, vibrant, biodiverse and world class seaweed harvested on our coast, which is sought after by high quality medical and cosmetic producers all over the world. Traditional seaweed harvesting communities have maintained these resources through years of careful work. We have to respect that. As part of this motion, we are asking the Government to ensure that Ireland's marine protected areas will be designated with the full involvement of those communities. Serious mistakes were made previously in nature conservation when bog and corncrake protection paid no heed to community concerns and paid no respect to the good work done by communities to protect and conserve areas for generations. This cannot happen again. In the North of Ireland, it has taken years to designate MPAs because they are chosen in accordance with a careful, bottom-up and respectful process of including local fishing communities and other users of the marine in deciding how best to manage those areas. In contrast, stakeholders have been told that such a process is not a priority for this Government. We need to rethink this. Locking fishing communities out of a delayed, roughshod MPA process is a recipe for disaster and could end up damaging relationships long after the Minister has left his Department. It would leave communities and ecologists cleaning up the mess of broken trust for years to come. I am really happy to hear that Fianna Fáil is supporting the motion.