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Marine Times Newspaper - The Voice of Ireland's Fishing Industry and Maritime Community


Volume 25 No. 12 May 2013

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MCIB Report on MFV “Tit Bonhomme” Tragedy
The Irish Registered motor fishing vessel “MFV Tit Bonhomme” C 331, left Union Hall, Glandore, Co. Cork on Friday the 13th January 2012 on a fishing trip with a crew of six. The vessel experienced some technical difficulties during the fishing trip and the Skipper decided to return to port. On its return to the port of Union Hall in the early morning of the 15th January 2012 the vessel stranded on Adam’s Island at the entrance to Glandore Harbour. The vessel broke up with the loss of five of its six crew.
We are all very aware of the tragedy and the subsequent search and rescue operation that caught everyones attention regarding the Tit Bonhomme and its six crew mates. Now the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) have published their report on the tragedy in Glandore Harbour. We have published from this lengthy report the narrative, conclusions and safety recommendations as given by the MCIB. We recommend that you read the full report available on their website (www.mcib.ie). We also publish from this report excerpts from Caitlin Hayes correspondence which can be found in full in the appendices of the report.

Read the full story in this months issue

Troubling Aspects About Release
of Tit Bonhomme Report

There are aspects of the publication of the Tit Bonhomme tragedy report and the subsequent media coverage which are troubling. It was leaked to the media three days before the MCIB published it. Media coverage ranged from suggestions that it was damning, a safety indictment, to inferring the possibility of criminal charges, to exploitation of foreign workers, to illegal immigration. Media leaks, in my experience of 45 years in journalism, are done to obtain advantage for a particular angle or viewpoint. Whoever leaked it to the media had access to the report prior to its release and it appears that sections of it were leaked. What purpose was intended or achieved by this?

Read the Opinion in this months Forum

Fishermen Call for an Under 18m Fishing Vessel Decommissioning
The Federation of Irish Fishermen (FIF) has called on Minister Simon Coveney to implement a decommissioning scheme for Irish fishing vessels under 18 metres in registered length. The Chair of FIF Mr Francis O’ Donnell stated that “in the Annual Implementation Report (2011) for the Seafood Development Operational Programme 2007-2013 it was recognised there is evidence that some imbalances remain in certain sub segments of the fleet and that Ireland would consider bringing forward proposals for further, well targeted, decommissioning during the period of this Operational Programme.”

Read the full story in this months issue

Purchase a copy of Pat Nolan's new book "A Step Up" by clicking this link - limited number available (Ireland & UK only)

 

 

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Give It Some Welly for the RNLI MAYDAY Appeal and Help Irish Lifeboats
With the recent strange weather, the RNLI is calling on people to put their wellies to good use and support their forthcoming MAYDAY appeal. The charity that saves lives at sea is asking the public to hold a welly themed fundraising event or buy a special yellow welly RNLI MAYDAY key-ring to raise funds for the lifeboat service in Ireland. The RNLI MAYDAY appeal is supported by John West.

Give it some Welly! Ellie Stephenson (5yrs) from Firhouse with RNLI volunteer lifeboat crewmembers Craig Kane, Damien Payne, Paul Cummins, Rob Landers and Graig MacIntosh are pictured in Dun Laoghaire to help launch the RNLI MAYDAY appeal. With the recent downpours and poor weather the RNLI is calling on people to put their wellies to good use and support their forthcoming MAYDAY appeal. Photo:Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland.

Full report in this months issue

Commitment from EU Member States to Secure Agreement on CFP Reform by End June
Meeting of Director General’s of Fisheries Held
at National Seafood Centre, Clonakilty

The commitment by Director Generals for Fisheries of EU Member States meeting at the National Seafood Centre, Clonakility on Tuesday 16th April, to achieve agreement on CFP reform by the end of June has been welcomed by Minister Simon Coveney. The meeting, hosted by the Irish Presidency, assessed progress on the Reform proposal to date and explored options for brokering resolutions by EU Ministers and Parliament. While there is agreement between the Council and the Parliament on the policy objectives for the Reform, there remain significant outstanding issues on the detailed implementation arrangements. Directors General from 23 EU Member States, together with a delegation from the European Commission attended the meeting.

Full report in this months issue

Seafood Industry Fish for Business at International Trade Show
Twenty three Irish seafood exporters travelled to Brussels to exhibit on Bord Bia’s stand at European Seafood Exposition (ESE), the world’s largest seafood fair. ESE, regarded as the most important trade event for the Irish seafood industry, attracts international buyers from over 140 countries and features stands from in excess of 1,600 exhibitors. The event provides an opportunity for Ireland’s seafood exporters to identify new customers, meet existing clients and launch new products.

Full report in this months issue

What a Wonderful Idea …..
Supply of a High Quality Lifejacket to Every Fisherman in Scotland

The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) has welcomed European Fisheries Fund support of £438,007 announced by the Scottish Government for an SFF led project to supply a Personal Flotation Device (PFD) to every fisherman in Scotland. Under the scheme, every fisherman in Scotland with the correct mandatory certification will have the opportunity to apply for the latest lifejacket - now known as a Personal Flotation Device (PFD) - and get it for FREE!

Full report in this months issue

Could There Be A Quota for Blue Mouth? A number of Blue Mouth fish have gone on display at Dingle Oceanworld recently. They were caught on rod and line some 30 miles west of Dingle, according to Kevin Flannery of the sea life centre. “Blue Mouth is a deep water species which is usually caught as a by-catch by trawlers and discarded. The Spanish and French boats keep them and sell them in their own markets. I think it’s only a matter of time, perhaps a couple of years, before we’ll see a quota being introduced for this species. I think Irish fishermen should record them and all other frequently discarded species in their logs for the day that such quotas come in,” he told the Marine Times. Photo and report by Ted Creedon.

Challenging the Celebrity Chefs
I have referred before to the irresponsible and irrational, self-promoting attitudes of so-called ‘celebrity chefs,’ newspapers and environmental organisations which have abrogated to themselves decision-making on the future of the fishing industry. They have created a public perception that does not contemplate anything to do with the fishing industry beyond the proclamation that “fish stocks are collapsing” and have made that phrase an automatic media refrain, thereby denying any possibility that the fishing industry would be able to gain public understanding and acceptance of its own efforts at conservation and protection of stocks. It is time to challenge those who have used fishermen and the industry to advance their own interests and, in the case of ‘celebrity chefs,’ self-promotion for their books, their restaurants and their careers, built on the destruction of the fishing industry’s reputation.

Read The Mate's Opinion in this months issue.

Castletownbere harbour. Photo by Helen Riddell.

Probably one of the oldest ex crew members of the Irish fleet. These four men fished together on Albert Swans MFV “Christine” in 1961. Pictured in Killybegs is John Sheridan 73, Francis Cunningham 75, Hammy Kyles 90, Sean Meehan 82. Photo by J. Cunningham.

A Lifetime Fishing - Seamus Corr Recalls
Following on from his History of the Fifty Footers, Pat Nolan now turns his attention to the men who have spent a lifetime fishing ........
Last month the retired Skerries fisherman recalled the ups and downs experienced over the many years he harvested east coast fishing grounds. This month he continues to reflect on days gone by; During the course of our chat Seamus described prawn fishing as the mainstay during much of his fishing career. As such I enquired as to how he remembered the prawn scene over the years. This is what he had to say, “It was of course tails only up to around the mid-1970s. There was no market for whole prawns until Derek Younger, the man who built the Red Sail processing factory at Clogherhead started buying them. We supplied prawns to him over many years when he worked at Seabourne and Cullens. That was previous to his opening the plant at Clogherhead. Currently there is huge money to be made out of landing whole prawns. I’m afraid that was not the case in our days, we got loads of prawns but prices were poor.”

Full Story In This Months Edition

"This Island Nation"
Noisy Government Told to Explain Itself
There have been several unexplained instances of strandings of whales and dolphins on the Irish coastline in the past few years, some of which, it has been claimed, could be related to underwater noise disturbance. Whales and dolphins depend on sound to communicate with each other, to locate prey and to find their way across long distances so they could be affected by acoustic disruption.
The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group complained to the European Commission and to Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte that a seismic survey, licensed for the Corrib Gas Field last year and which resumed work in March, was not subjected to an environmental impact assessment as required under EU Directives. The survey is due to last for several months.

Full Story In This Months "This Island Nation"

 


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