Fishermen 'Abandoned' As Job Losses Loom

Jobs in the Irish fishing industry are to going to be harder and harder 'to catch' as the impact of this month's Budget is felt.

The IFA Aquaculture section said the Budget was a negative signal that the government was not interested in fishing, in people who live in coastal areas, nor in a report which it had drawn up and agreed with the industry as the way forward.

There would be no development possible in the seafood industry as a result, the organisation said, and accused the government of abandoning the industry.

There has already been a chorus of protests from the fishing industry against the government following the Budget and now there is dismay from fishermen who say that the money budgeted for a 'downsizing' programme is less than half the €58m which was originally agreed and promised.

The government's original plan - known as the Cawley Report - was intended to reel in the size of the fleet to better match the available fishing stocks.

Under the plan hundreds of fishermen are to leave the industry, but the lower figure of €21m provided in the 2008 Budget for the decommissioning programme falls far short of the original amount.

The government's plan is to remove over a third of all fishing boats from the fleet – but with the promised funding now cut - there will be much less available to help decommissioned crews find alternative employment.

The representative body for the fish and shellfish farmers has also said it is dismayed by the attitude shown in the Budget towards the fishing industry and people who live in the coastal areas.

The Federation of Irish Fishermen has already described government commitment to the industry as 'in tatters' and an example of abandoning people outside of urban centres.

The fish farmers have joined the federation in calls for immediate government action to redress the situation.

(BMcC/KMcA)