Campaign highlights 'indiscriminate harvesting' of sprat fish

RTÉ News​

2 days ago

Calls for a ban on inshore fishing by industrial trawlers has become an increasingly divisive issue among coastal communities in counties Cork and Kerry.
A campaign is underway in Bantry and Kenmare to highlight what has been described as the "indiscriminate harvesting" of sprat fish, which are a vital part of the marine ecosystem.
Over 100 people marched to Bantry Town Square at the weekend chanting 'Save our sprat'.
It follows a recent public meeting attended by both campaigners and fishermen.
Just last week, a whale watching company in west Cork announced it was cancelling tours due to the over fishing of sprat. Whales and other marine life are now foraging for food elsewhere.
Fishing groups say they also want sustainable measures going forward, but argue against a blanket ban on inshore trawling.
Dolf D'hondt grew up in west Cork and is passionate about marine conservation. He has helped set up the Save our Sprat campaign to raise awareness of what he has described as the "decimation" of sprat and the resulting decline in marine life.
"At the moment we have a fishery which is completely unregulated," he said.
"We are not against fishermen, they are not doing anything illegal, but the idea that you can go out unrestricted and catch everything inside in the bays, while this species, sprat, is trying to spawn, it's not sustainable. It's a recipe for disaster.
"We have people all around this country saying that what they're seeing is a drop in marine life, which is directly related to the drop in sprat numbers."
Campaigners and large scale fishermen are in agreement that there is a need for robust, concrete scientific data going forward, but Mr D'hondt says time is of the essence.
"We feel that this is doing more damage to the fishing industry long term than anything else. Sprat is what feeds most of the commercially caught fish," he explained.
"So you have 30 fishing vessels that are fishing sprat. You have 2,000 fishing vessels in the Irish fishing fleet. I think that taking sprat out of the marine ecosystem is having a bigger knock on negative impact on fishermen's livelihoods than if we lifted them.
"We urgently need updated scientific advice from the Marine Institute and other agencies, but we know what we're seeing with our eyes and ears."
Mr D'hondt said they are calling on the Government to introduce a temporary ban so that they can get some scientific evidence as to what a sustainable level of fishing is.
"And remember, this is a fish which is caught to be pulped into farmed salmon feed," he added.
"Less than 2% is for human consumption. So it's not for humans that we're fishing this fish. It's for turning into salmon farm food. This isn't a high income fish."
The CEO of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation, which is based in Castletownbere, said sprat are an important part of the ecosystem but they are being sustainably fished.
"They live for four years, so you're talking about 16 sets of grandparents or grandmothers of these fish, and they've been fished for 50 years. That is the definition of sustainability," said Patrick Murphy.
"The stock is going up in numbers, not down. We have pilchards and we have anchovies coming into our waters. Our waters are warming and the fish are moving and changing and moving around the coastline.
"We need our scientists and our Marine Institute to follow on from the good work that they have done, the scoping exercise to find out what the biomass is of this fish, to do what we do with all the other fish stocks and make sure that there's a sustainable amount of fish caught in a calendar year that it recovers the following year.
"As I said, every four years, all of this fish will die. We need to take use of our resources and we need to sustain what little of our fleet that is left in Irish waters. Remember, we only get 15% of the fish in our waters. To take something like this away from our fishermen will put more families out of their jobs.
"The easiest way to describe this is like an apple tree. The apples are plucked from the tree and next year they come back. It's like fruit. These fish, if they're fished sustainably, will return."
Mr Murphy said fishermen do not want to destroy the environment, adding that if the science says no, they will rebuild stocks and implement different types of fishing.
He said the industry needs sustainability and millions of euros are invested in these boats.
"You don't make it back in one, five or ten years," he added.
"We are not fishing out stock like we're being accused. We're involved with the Marine Institute and we're looking at the ecosystem and how the environment is changing with new stocks coming in. To attribute this little bit of fishing to the destruction being talked about is not credible.
"We need the science. We need to make proper decisions and proper evidence and proper information. That's all the fishermen are asking for. But if the science says that we shouldn't be fishing these stocks, then the fishermen will do the responsible thing and they won't fish them. It's a different conversation but remember what the legislation is targeting. It's not saying about stopping fishing. It's staying stopped for a certain poor heart the boats.
"So it's not talking about stopping the fishing for everybody. It's targeting and discriminating against one side of boat over the other. The figures show that the small boats are lending up to 47% of what's landed, so if you're talking about this fish not being caught and not being sustainable, we need to find the evidence."
However, some local fishermen, like Johnny O'Brien, say their livelihood has been affected by industrial trawling.
"There were two boats coming down the bay for about ten years. Now there are four pairs, which is eight boats. And these are massive boats," he said.
"And to make it worse, they're taking everything. Everything that comes into that net is gone."
Darren O'Sullivan, who runs Bantry Bay Charters, said there has been a "drastic decline" in the number of seals, dolphins and minke whales.
It's his opinion that this is because of overfishing of sprat.
"Five years ago you would come upon a pod of 20 dolphins within minutes. Now it can take up to two hours to see the odd one or two," he said.
"It breaks my heart to see the big vessels come in every September pair trawling for sprat. They come in to Bantry Bay and here in Glengarrif Harbour, which is a Special Area of Conservation.
"What is the point of having a SAC when these large trawlers come in to fish there? It's ridiculous."
Garard Sheehy, a young fisherman from Baltimore, runs the family sea trawling business.
He says fishermen are being "hammered" on social media and in parts of their local communities, which is "hurtful and harmful" to the fishing industry and their families.
"A lot of these boats are family businesses and it's very bad to see all this bad press without giving our side of the story," he said.
"We want to see the data collected and updated by the Marine Institute and have the biomass of the fish assessed and see where we go from there.
"At the moment these people are throwing out opinions and putting out information that's non factual. This trial by social media."
Mr Sheehy grew visibly upset as he spoke of the damage to the livelihoods of fishermen without proper scientific evidence
"We are not doing anything illegal. We're breaking no laws. We're abiding by the rules and I think people need to be mindful of this."
The key contentious issue centres around large boats operating in pairs, a practice known as pair trawling. This is when two boats drag a vast net between them, often catching entire shoals of fish.
The primary target is the small, silvery sprat when they come into sheltered bays to spawn around September.
Campaigners say the overfishing of sprat, which is at the bottom of the food chain, means there often isn't enough food left for larger fish, sea birds, seals, whales and dolphins. They are now foraging elsewhere.
There are no quotas for sprat and last year around 17,000 tonnes were caught. International scientific advice recommends limits of around 2,000 tonnes
Most of the sprat caught are processed into fish meal.
In December 2018, a ban was announced on vessels over 18 metres trawling inshore waters within the six nautical mile zone, but that was overturned on a legal technicality.
A new public consultation process took place last year with almost 6,000 submissions received.
The Department of the Marine said the matter is being carefully considered before a decision is made.
Richard Cullen is a third level environmental researcher and a native of Kenmare who comes from a fishing background.
He has pointed the finger of blame squarely at the Government for a lack of forward planning and policy, which he said will lead to the annihilation of sprat in the bays around West Cork and Kerry.
"There were 6,000 people who voiced their opinion about what was going on here and as it stands, the Government hasn't really done anything. What I have seen from the Department of Marine is they have issued studies to be conducted about the health of different bays across Ireland," he said.
"In all honesty, that's just kind of delaying what's kind of going on because they want more concrete proof. But really they should just listen to the people.
"The people living around these bays have, for some time now, expressed their concerns. They've complained to the press, in social media, to politicians, but with very little action.
"There's the increasing uneasiness about these practices that will eventually wipe out the food chain that serves the whales, the dolphins, the fish that's caught by the local fishermen, and the sea bird life and the marine life in general.
"To us, it seems that the Government has been dragging its feet."
Students at Pobalscoil Inbhear Scéine in Kenmare were the winners of a UNESCO environmental award, as well as winning first prize at the recent AIB Future Sparks Award for their project on pair trawling in Kenmare Bay.
The pupils adapted the words of an old sea shanty to drive home their conservation message.
John O'Sullivan, the teacher overseeing the TY project, said Kenmare Bay is becoming "barren of marine life" because of the practice of pair trawling.
"You only have to walk down to Kenmare Pier and there are no sea birds to be heard," he said.
"It is decimating the sprat population, make no mistake. The Government needs to act now or future generations will ask the question: 'What were you thinking, why didn't you act?'"
The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group said Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Minister of State Timmy Dooley told them that a "determination on the trawling inside 6nm" is imminent.
"Minister Dooley explained that the reason it has taken so long is the drive to make the determination absolutely watertight and that there should be no legal room for further judicial review by the fishing industry," the group said.
"Unfortunately, there will likely be a two year delay before the new determination will be fully enforced but Government considers this to be a less risky strategy in terms of getting it over the line and avoiding yet another successful legal challenge by the industry."
In a statement, the Department of the Marine said the Programme for Government was committed to maintaining support for the inshore fishing sector and promoting the sustainability of fish stocks.
"In December 2018, a transition period to a ban on vessels over 18 metres trawling in inshore waters, inside the six nautical mile zone and the baselines was announced. A significant part of the objective of this measure was to manage the fishing effort on sprat stocks, which are primarily targeted within inshore waters," the statement said.
"This measure, however, was the subject of extended legal proceedings resulting in the measure being overturned in 2023.
"In February 2024, the Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Marine held a new public consultation on a review of trawling activity inside the six nautical mile zone and the baselines. This consultation took place without prejudice.
"Over 5,500 submissions were received. These submissions, along with updated scientific and economic advice from the Marine Institute and Bord Iascaigh Mhara, are being used to inform a review of trawling activity inside the six nautical mile zone and baselines.
"All relevant issues will be carefully considered before a decision is made."
European Maritime Day took place in Cork from 21 to 23 May. The event featured interested national and EU stakeholders from across the private and public sector with an interest in maritime affairs.
Minister Dooley was in attendance at the event. He made no announcement in relation to the reintroduction of a ban on vessels over 18 metres trawling in inshore waters, as the matter is still being considered.