The Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation (KFO) has called for a suite of mitigation measures for fisheries to be spelled out clearly by the Irish Government in the event of a hard Brexit.
It stressed that Ireland’s two biggest fisheries, mackerel (60%) and nephrops/prawns (40%) are massively dependent on access to UK waters and that it could not support a situation where access might stop as the result of a hard Brexit, but believes a deal could still be reached for the industry.
KFO chief executive, Seán O’Donoghue stated the KFO was concerned by what it sees as a lack of progress: “It is high time that we had sight of a tangible plan which would chart the future direction of the Irish industry in the event of a hard Brexit.
“The importance of this is underlined by the fact that Ireland’s two biggest fisheries, mackerel (60%) and nephrops / prawns (40%) are massively dependent on access to UK waters with the overall percentage of stocks currently fished from UK waters by the Irish fleet standing at more than 30%.
“We cannot countenance a situation whereby this access might stop at 11pm on March 29th next due to a hard Brexit. The events of this week notwithstanding, we believe a deal can still be reached in London.”
The Irish fishing sector sustains 14,500 jobs and is worth €1.15bn to the Irish economy.
The European Fisheries Alliance has stated it hopes to see development of, and agreement on a future and comprehensive bilateral fisheries and trade agreement on the basis of the agreement reached between EU and UK negotiators in November 2018.
