Wexford Borough Council member, Cllr. Anthony Kelly, has commended the crew of the Saltees Quest for the stand they took against the ludicrous EU regulations regarding the discarding of fish caught that exceed quotas.
The Sinn Féin councillor has called on the government to use Ireland’s coming presidency of the EU to revisit the Common Fishery Policy, bringing the date forward for the total ban of discarding dead fish and easing highly restrictive quotas on Irish fishermen.
Cllr. Kelly said; “The stand taken by the crew of the Saltees Quest should be commended. It’s a pity that Kilmore Quay fishermen have once again had to put themselves in the firing line as they are left with no one to represent them.”
Cllr. Kelly added that the recent changes to the Common Fishery Policy allowing for the phased out and eventual total banning of the process of discarding dead fish back into the sea while welcomed, was too little, too late.
“A total ban won’t come in for another six years and the changes made failed to deal with the core issue of extremely restrictive quotas. In fact our monkfish quota has actually been reduced,” he stated.
