Scallop fishermen dismayed by lack of parity in Blacksod Bay fisheries
23rd February 2016
County Mayo scallop fishermen are infuriated that oyster dredging is set to commence in the same area where scallop dredging is banned, reports Pauric Gallagher.
Scallop dredging was initially halted in Blacksod by fishermen voluntarily, to allow for measures to be introduced, protecting sensitive habitats in the Blacksod Special Area of Conservation (SAC). One of these measures was that all vessels dredging for scallops would be fitted with VMS tracking; this was to ensure that the sensitive areas were not dredged. The oyster vessels are now being allowed to fish there without any form of GPS monitoring, and therefore are unable to guarantee the protection of the fragile habitats in the bay’s inshore waters.
Blacksod Bay is designated as a SAC and last year, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney signed into law measures to manage scallop fishing in the Bay. The management plan, which the scallop fishermen facilitated in implementing, is aimed at alleviating the risks to sensitive habitats, and to protect and maintain these habitats within the Bay. However, these fishermen now believe that their responsible approach is not being acknowledged, and that any oyster dredging in the area will contravene the progress made by the protection measures.
While dredging for oysters, these vessels will also lift a by-catch of scallops, but because the stock assessment for the area is low, there is currently a ban on removing scallops from Blacksod Bay. However, according to the scallop fishermen, Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) – which manages Ireland’s oyster fisheries – has stated that it has no authority to stop or prosecute oyster fishermen removing scallops from the Bay.
The policing of inshore fisheries in Blacksod Bay, under the current administrative system, is deemed preposterous, in that the scallops and oyster fisheries are managed by two different government departments. Management of the scallop fishery falls under the remit of Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, while oyster fishing is regulated by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, which has introduced circumstances that fail to achieve proper monitoring of the oyster fishery.
Ex National Inshore Fisheries Forum (NIFF) Chairman, Ciaran Quinn, told Fishing News: “We worked very hard last year at resolving the scallop dredging issue in Blacksod Bay. The biggest issue was the protection of the sensitive areas in the SAC. The fact that the Minister of the Marine cannot regulate oyster dredging in the same manner as scallop dredging, yet he is responsible for the protection of the sensitive habitats, is absurd. It is completely undermining the work done with the scallop fishermen last year.”
He added, “This is an issue which cannot be dealt with through the Regional Inshore Fisheries Forum (RIFF) and the NIFF, as oysters, salmon, sea bass and eels are outside their terms of reference. This, in turn, undermines the role of the NIFF to effectively represent all inshore fishermen, and I call on Minister Coveney to set about having IFI transferred to the remit of the Department of Marine without delay. Until this happens, I propose that all further discussions with inshore fishermen on SACs should be suspended.”
Read more at Fishing News here.
County Mayo scallop fishermen are infuriated that oyster dredging is set to commence in the same area where scallop dredging is banned, reports Pauric Gallagher.
Scallop dredging was initially halted in Blacksod by fishermen voluntarily, to allow for measures to be introduced, protecting sensitive habitats in the Blacksod Special Area of Conservation (SAC). One of these measures was that all vessels dredging for scallops would be fitted with VMS tracking; this was to ensure that the sensitive areas were not dredged. The oyster vessels are now being allowed to fish there without any form of GPS monitoring, and therefore are unable to guarantee the protection of the fragile habitats in the bay’s inshore waters.
Blacksod Bay is designated as a SAC and last year, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney signed into law measures to manage scallop fishing in the Bay. The management plan, which the scallop fishermen facilitated in implementing, is aimed at alleviating the risks to sensitive habitats, and to protect and maintain these habitats within the Bay. However, these fishermen now believe that their responsible approach is not being acknowledged, and that any oyster dredging in the area will contravene the progress made by the protection measures.
While dredging for oysters, these vessels will also lift a by-catch of scallops, but because the stock assessment for the area is low, there is currently a ban on removing scallops from Blacksod Bay. However, according to the scallop fishermen, Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) – which manages Ireland’s oyster fisheries – has stated that it has no authority to stop or prosecute oyster fishermen removing scallops from the Bay.
The policing of inshore fisheries in Blacksod Bay, under the current administrative system, is deemed preposterous, in that the scallops and oyster fisheries are managed by two different government departments. Management of the scallop fishery falls under the remit of Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, while oyster fishing is regulated by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, which has introduced circumstances that fail to achieve proper monitoring of the oyster fishery.
Ex National Inshore Fisheries Forum (NIFF) Chairman, Ciaran Quinn, told Fishing News: “We worked very hard last year at resolving the scallop dredging issue in Blacksod Bay. The biggest issue was the protection of the sensitive areas in the SAC. The fact that the Minister of the Marine cannot regulate oyster dredging in the same manner as scallop dredging, yet he is responsible for the protection of the sensitive habitats, is absurd. It is completely undermining the work done with the scallop fishermen last year.”
He added, “This is an issue which cannot be dealt with through the Regional Inshore Fisheries Forum (RIFF) and the NIFF, as oysters, salmon, sea bass and eels are outside their terms of reference. This, in turn, undermines the role of the NIFF to effectively represent all inshore fishermen, and I call on Minister Coveney to set about having IFI transferred to the remit of the Department of Marine without delay. Until this happens, I propose that all further discussions with inshore fishermen on SACs should be suspended.”
Read more at Fishing News here.
