After a two year absence, Ireland’s leading trawler firm Atlantic Dawn Company of Killybegs is returning to Mauritania to fish under the 2006 EU fisheries treaty, reports Pieter Tesch.
In 2006 the firm left Mauritania and operated its former flagship of the same name in the South Pacific off Chile before she was sold to Dutch trawler firm Parlevliet & van der Plas.
“We had a look again at Mauritania after we restructured our fleet in order to become more efficient and better suited to the fishing opportunities available to us,” said finance director Niall O’Gorman, following a recent visit to Mauritania.
He explained that under the 2006 EU Mauritanian fisheries protocol a new category (11) was created to facilitate refrigerated sea water (RSW) trawlers to target small pelagics such as sardines.
“This development will add a new dimension to the tradition of Irish flagged vessels which have operated in Mauritania since 1999,” said Mr O’Gorman.
“Participation in these third country agreements provides additional catching opportunities for Irish vessels during the summer months when there is no catch in European waters.
“Participation under category 11 is a very important development from an Irish perspective ensuring that this part of the agreement with Mauritania can be maintained for other Irish fishing interests.”
Mr O’Gorman explained that because no Irish RSW trawler had availed of the opportunities under category 11 so far there was the danger that these quota and licenses would be transferred to category 9 for the freezer trawlers dominated by the Dutch.
In order to fish with one or more of Atlantic Dawn’s RSW trawlers the company had secured Ocean Fresh, formerly American Freedom, to work as a processing vessel alongside them, said Mr O’Gorman.
He added that Ocean Fresh was also using environmentally-friendly, natural refrigerants in her freezing installation and stressed that pelagic trawlers were not in conflict with Mauritania’s domestic artisanal fleet which concentrated on demersal species such as octopus.
In fact, if successful the firm was looking at possibilities under the EU treaty to assist the development of Mauritanian processing capacity, said Mr O’Gorman.
