Tag Archives: Bord Iascaigh Mhara

Trawlers scrapped over quotas ‘end a lifetime of fishing’

Work on scrapping a number of Irish fishing vessels is under way in an effort to rebalance fish quotas following post-Brexit agreements. The Catherine R is among the first vessels to be decommissioned. She was a steel trawler built in 2005 and fishing from the port of Greencastle in Co Donegal. Her owner Cara Rawdon has been fishing for 46 years. He said that he chose to accept to decommission his fishing boat,,, On seeing his ship being ripped apart for the scrap heap, he said: “It’s like seeing your home being torn apart. I saved the money to buy her and make her safe for the crew. It was a very difficult decision because not only had I to decide my own future I also had to think of my crew. It’s a very hard decision to make to end a lifetime of fishing.” >click to read< 07:51

Trawler decommissioning scheme ‘needs to be better funded’

Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue needs to put additional funding into the State’s decommissioning scheme for fishing trawlers to make it viable, industry representatives have said. His comments follow the news that the owners of just 20 fishing boats had so far accepted State offers to decommission. The scheme was originally capped at €60m, before Mr McConalogue later increased that to €75m. However, Mr Murphy said the funding is inadequate. “Europe was originally told the scheme could cost €96m but he went for a smaller amount. The decommissioning scheme has proved unpopular as boat owners accepted for decommissioning will only get a proportion of the total value of their boats back. >click to read< 09: 47

Ireland: Only 20 fishing boat owners accept State’s decommissioning offer

Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) has admitted the low uptake in a statement issued to mark the opening of today’s Skipper’s Expo trade show, which it sponsors. Although the statement centred around the publication of its two-year study on the fishing industry’s carbon footprint, it mentioned the controversial decommissioning scheme in passing. Of the take-up and the fact that less than half have gone for it, BIM simply said: “Some 57 letters of offer have been issued with total funding of €75m. To date 20 owners have accepted.” The current scheme and a number of tie-up schemes over the past two years were designed to help mitigate against the quota and financial losses Irish fishers sustained because of Brexit. >click to read< 10:16