Compte rendu in extenso des débats

Mardi 5 avril 2022 - Strasbourg

17.2. L'avenir de la pêche dans la Manche, la mer du Nord, la mer d'Irlande et l'océan Atlantique (A9-0042/2022 - Manuel Pizarro)

Oral explanations of vote

  Billy Kelleher (Renew). – Mr President, I supported the vote at today’s plenary session as it was a reasonable proposition. However, last week I was actually willing to co-sign amendments tabled by my constituency colleague, Mick Wallace MEP, highlighting the inequity of the current fishing quota allocations, especially following Brexit.

We have to accept now that Brexit had a catastrophic effect on the Irish fishing industry and over the next four years, it will reduce the value of the fish catch by about 21 million per annum up to 2026, where it will be 43 million. So, it is a significant loss and, therefore, we have to now accept the premise that in the common fisheries policy we do need to have a very open, transparent reassessment of the allocation of fishing quotas.

Ireland simply does not have enough fish quota. Other countries have quota that they don’t fully use. Yet we can’t swap because we have nothing to give and we need more. So, I would hope that the common fisheries policy would have a genuine review with a view to assessing the inequity of the fishing allocation quotas to the Irish fishing fleets.

  Chris MacManus (The Left). – Mr President, I too welcome this report on the impact of Brexit for our coastal and fishing communities. It’s clear that Ireland’s fishing sector has been walloped by Brexit as the trade deal amounts to a 15% overall cut to our fishing quota. And our coastal and fishing communities don’t need lip service, they need action. They need our government to sit down with our EU counterparts and the European Commission to make the case for levelling up the Irish fishing industry.

Along with this, we need the Dublin Government to fight for Irish fishermen to have a quota for species relatively new to our waters, like bluefin tuna. Representing the island nation of Ireland, I get angry when I see coastal and fishing communities being neglected by successive governments despite being an island with huge potential. What we need is a government that is prepared to stand up for our fishermen.