December 21, 2003
The ones that got away.
We're a destructive species, when we put our minds to it. As I was flying into Dublin airport during the week, trawlers from the east coast fishing fleets were either returning to harbour or setting out to make one last sweep before Christmas. The boats seemed like specks of dust on the textured surface of the sea. It's hard to believe that crafts such as these have almost emptied entire oceans of fish stocks, particularly in the last century or so.
To try repair some of the damage, the European Union imposed even more restrictions on Irish fishing areas, extending the limitation on fishing in the seas to the north-west of the country. Cod, plaice and haddock will be protected. The scheme is called 'days at sea', which species the number of days a boat can go to sea to fish. The EU had tried other measures such as limits on the type and size of nets, but wholesale cheating of that system led the EU to impose the ban of boats putting to sea at all. The news is not all bad - many of the Irish boats do not fish for these species, and so won't be affected. In fact, the overall quota for the Irish fleet has increased by 8 percent (mainly due to increased allowances for monkfish and haddock).
One of the unexpected victims of these conservation measures has been the building of currachs. Since the currach is a fishing boat, the EU have decided not to provide any more grant aid to craftsmen who build the boats. MEP Sean O'Neachtain nearly blew a head gasket at the news, describing it as "bureaucracy gone mad", since all the currachs used for fishing in Ireland have a negligible effect on fish stocks.
I have to say that I was surprised that the EU were funding currach-building in the first place. Each boat costs about 4,500 euro, and over half comes from the wonderful world of EUcracy. Most of the currachs that I see around the coast are rotting in fields, so I wonder if it is an industry solely fuelled by EU lolly. Now, the EU have not banned the boats - they can still be built, and they can still be used for fishing - it's just that our friends in Germany, France and the UK (i.e. the big EU donor countries) will not be paying for them.
Posted by Monasette at December 21, 2003 01:31 AM