Saturday, October 06, 2012

Irish skipper faces prosecution for giving away fish for free...

FISHERIES AUTHORITY officers have prepared a file for submission to the Director of Public Prosecution after a Wexford trawler owner gave away fish rather than discard them at sea.

Séamus O’Flaherty, who owns the Saltees Quest, gave away fish at Kilmore Quay in Wexford yesterday morning after the vessel exceeded its EU quota of monkfish. The vessel’s skipper, Jimmy Byrne, said he took the action to oppose the EU rule that requires over-quota fish to be thrown back in the sea.

The crew, which returned to harbour on Wednesday night, were monitored by a member of an Garda Síochána at Kilmore Quay before officers from the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority arrived yesterday morning to investigate the activity.

(...)

Mr Byrne told The Irish Times he took the action of giving away the fish to draw attention to what he describes as the crazy system of dumping dead fish back into the water while thousands of people go hungry in Ireland.

“Four hundred thousand people are unemployed and people are ashamed to admit they don’t have enough money to feed themselves. Children are going to school without breakfast or coming home to no dinner while we are encouraged by the Government to throw these fish back into the sea. I personally know people who are going hungry – this is why I had to take a stand.” Full story...

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