Fresh fish for sale in “Nicky's Plaice” fish shop on Howth Pier. Image: Sasko Lazarov Fresh fish for sale in “Nicky's Plaice” fish shop on Howth Pier. Image: Sasko Lazarov WHEN SPEAKING TO fishers about why they were concerned about the proposed Brexit trade deal, about why they don’t see a viable future for their industry, a flurry of various figures are usually cited to explain the decline in their industry in recent years.
Bórd Iascaigh Mhara, Ireland’s seafood development agency, says that €400 million is generated through domestic consumption, and €263 through exports and imports. Who is catching Ireland’s fishing quota? As our sister publication Noteworthy reported, Ireland has a system of giving the quota to those that catch the fish first, which gives an advantage to bigger vessels with greater resources.
There are many small fishing vessels in Ireland that are out-financed and disadvantaged by Ireland’s first-come first-served system of awarding quotas, and who may be more likely to use hand-based practices that may be a more sustainable way of fishing.For shellfish, around 1,500 inshore vessels which target mostly non-quota shellfish will not be directly impacted by quota transfers, as they have only minimal catches of quotas.