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Pringle calls on EU to stand up for Irish fishermen and impose sanctions on Norway
- Updated: 17th October 2024
Independent TD for Donegal, Thomas Pringle, has called on the EU to stand up for Irish fishermen and impose sanctions on Norway for flouting scientific advice.
Deputy Pringle said: “I have spoken before of the European Union’s failure to impose consequences on countries that set unilateral quotas for mackerel, despite several years of breaching agreements.
“We need a meaningful response from the EU. We need this government and the EU to stand up for Irish fishing communities.
“I recognise the heavy reliance of the Irish seafood sector on mackerel and blue whiting fisheries and I appreciate the concerns of the sector. We cannot continue to allow other countries to overfish our waters while Irish fishing communities suffer.
“This is not a new issue, yet we are still waiting to see a meaningful response from the EU.
“Some time back, at a meeting of the Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Minister Charlie McConalogue said that Government continued to oppose the setting of unacceptably high unilateral quotas for mackerel by a number of third countries. He said that if unacceptable behaviour continued, the EU must work together and use all available tools so that there are real and effective consequences for such behaviour.
“This meeting was in late 2022. And just earlier this summer, a new trilateral mackerel deal was agreed between the UK, Norway and the Faroe Islands. These are countries that have a history of overfishing and we have previously seen them overfish by up to 44 per cent per annum.
“What effective consequences have the EU imposed in relation to non-compliance? What is the EU going to do or willing to do to ensure compliance? And what has the Irish government done to urge the EU to ensure compliance?
“There may be ‘real and effective consequences’, but the EU hasn’t been willing to use any,” he said.
