Ireland’s leading maritime newspaper covering the Coastal, Fishing and Maritime Communities

MARINE TIMES NEWS July 28th:
Department go to unprecedented lengths to hide our fishing and processing sectors from visiting EU Officials

The first Informal meeting of EU Fisheries Ministers under the Irish EU takes place in Cork, as the Irish Department officials take unprecedented steps to hide and obscure them from the Irish fishing sector.

(l-r): Conor McGuiness TD, Costas Kadis Cypriot European Commissioner for Fisheries & Oceans and Pat the Cope Gallagher TD

"Bringing the EU officials to visit the Charles Fort Kinsale might be fitting to highlight our colonial past, but it fails to highlight the colonial policies of the present CFP – and how the resources of the seas around Ireland benefit everyone apart the Irish."

Pat the Cope Gallagher Vice Chairperson of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs along with the Committee Chairperson Conor Mc Guinness TD met with EU Fisheries and Oceans Commissioner Costas Kadis in Cork earlier today.

Commenting on the meeting, Pat the Cope Gallagher said; “Both of us in a very clear and direct manner highlighted the massive challenges facing Irelands fishing sectors, from inshore to offshore, from processing to aquaculture while also highlighting the massive depletion of stocks at the hands of our EU Colleagues destroying our fishing grounds.

“The loss of the Hague Preferences at the December 2025 Fisheries Council, after Ireland benefiting from them since 1976 was driven home to the visiting Commissioner. We highlighted that since 2021, and due directly to EU Commission polices Ireland has lost €260 million of quotas, meantime each year increased efforts of fishing occur in our waters from other EU Member States. Immediately after Irelands last decommissioning we witnessed increased fishing into the grounds we vacated by two other EU Member States – that is why our stocks are under constant pressure.

“The Common Fisheries Policy has led to the total destruction and virtual collapse of all the sectors within Irish fishing including fish processing, and this has greatly worsened post Brexit. Meanwhile, as Ireland gathers EU Fisheries Ministers to the first informal meeting, we fail to show leadership or the courage of our convictions by highlighting any of this to the wider European audience.

“We both raised the issue of whereby Ireland has a totally criminal based sanctions system and is extremely draconian in approach, and that is completely out of kilter with the rest of Europe. We did highlight that Minister Dooley is committed to reviewing the 2006 Act; which is overly heavy handed against Irish fishing.

“I took the opportunity to highlight directly to the EU Commissioner, the Oireachtas Committee concerns regarding the fishing activities of the Dutch Pelagic Freezer trawlers in the waters west of Ireland. How no one in the EU are monitoring these vessels, and how the change member state flags seamlessly at sea with zero oversight from anyone.

“I compared the lack of oversight on these freezing at sea vessels to the robust oversight we have within Ireland throughout our pelagic processing sector, and how the same rules and regulations must be applied to all. It is simply not good enough to state these are too big to monitor.

“Both Deputy Conor Mc Guinness SF and I through our membership of the Oireachtas Committee, used this opportunity as the only Irish non-Governmental delegation to meet with the EU Commissioner; to highlight the issues that are impacting Irish fishermen and fisherwoman on a daily basis, the scale of pressures and impact forced on Ireland through the failed policies especially the CFP.

“The EU Commissioner Costas Kadis agreed that a targeted review of the CFP is required, and he spoke at length on the issues that we raised. He made himself available for future meetings and spoke of the need for further engagement with the sector. He praised the work of the Oireachtas Committee. I would like to record my appreciation of the positive engagement both Conor and I had with the Fisheries Commissioner.

“Meanwhile, Ireland needs to get its act together and start putting the fishing sector forward to highlight the scale of loss and impacts we are currently experiencing instead of the Laissez Faire policy of doing nothing while the industry fails” concluded Pat the Cope.

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