Aontú TD Deputy Paul Lawless has strongly criticised the outcome of recent EU fisheries negotiations, warning that decisions taken in Brussels will have immediate and damaging consequences for fishing communities across Mayo, particularly in ports such as Killala, Achill, Clare Island, and Westport.
He says the latest EU agreement has imposed “catastrophic quota reductions on key stocks vital to the west coast fleet. Ireland stands to lose approximately 57,000 tonnes of quota next year, valued at around €94 million in direct catch a figure that balloons to nearly €200 million once processing, logistics, and export impacts are taken into account. The cuts threaten up to 2,300 jobs in coastal communities including many in Mayo ports and will decimate the small fleet at the heart of our local economies”.
He is now calling on the Irish government to appeal to the European Court of Justice to stop this move by the EU, imposed he said by the unprecedented blocking of the Hague Preferences, a decade old safeguard designed to protect Ireland’s under-developed fleet from severe losses.
Deputy Lawless spoke to Midwest News Editor Teresa O’Malley avout the impact the EU quota reductions will have ON Ireland’s fishing industry….
